Slashdot Mirror
11,000 Words on the Star Wars Trilogy DVDs
The Barking Dog writes "On Monday, September 27th DVD Verdict posted a bantha-sized review of the Star Wars Trilogy. Written by ten people and weighing in at over 11,000 words, it's probably the net's most thorough, extensive review of not only the DVDs, but Star Wars's impact on sci-fi and filmmaking in general. And as one of the contributors, I think that's a good thing."
You are a sucker for purchasing this for the third time.
Repeated 5,500 times?
I bought the DVD, and its definately worth it, regardless of other peoples' opinions.
-
Bah. Not impressive. Give me 11,000 words written in Gungan, then I'll be impressed.
And as one of the contributors, I think that's a good thing.
Well you would.
How is a large review of the DVD set of 25-year-old movies a good thing? Is the number of words supposed to impress readers? Does it provide any significant insight not already published about the movies? Is it full of "gee whiz, I sure liked Star Wars!" commentary?
Reviews are meant to be shorter than the movies themselves.
I'll try again later, but if I see even a paragraph on who shot who at the cantina, I'm going to fall on my lightsaber.
Wouldn't 11 screenshots be just as helpful?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
At least the submitter owned up to being one of the authors of the review. Others haven't been as scrupulous. :)
An 11,000 word group masturbation project based on the "Holy Trilogy".
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
Whew, for a minute there I thought he said 11,000 words!
This way to the egress...
The Cookiethievery review covers every released film, including a preview of the next one. Almost required visiting for any hardcore Star Wars fan (will you be standing in line for a week for the next one?)
you're a tool.
...there is nothing impressive about Gungan. Read a Jamaican newspaper.
For those that would die defending it, Freedom
has a sweet taste that the protected will never know.
It's not the size of the review its how you use it...err..
For The Best Jazz/Hip-hop fusion > COlD DUCK
Not sure if you guys are feeling like me but i am sick of hearing about star wars, the originals were great movies. but good grief... i don't know, too much star wars crap and i just want it to all end. the newest 1 and 2 were dreadful... i won't even go see episode 3, i'll wait till it's on tv, and even then i probably won't pay much attention to it.
Kyle
http://www.unlogikal.net/
They use phrases like 'original version best was' and 'Jabba would not approve', they make numerous threatening references to the ILM, and at the end they just repeat the words 'screw Lucas' over and over..."
"...and as one of the contributors, I think that's a good thing."
"Hey I know, I'll submit a story to /. ..." *KABOOOOOOM*
That server went down faster than a barge gaurd in a sarlac pit.
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
i think you need a bananaphone for that...
Why would anyone write the article based on how much words it is contained on the Star Wars Trilogy DVDs. What is point of this??
"On Monday, September 27th DVD Verdict posted a bantha-sized review of the Star Wars Trilogy. Written by ten people and weighing in at over 11,000 words..."
That's nothing. I've seen more effort put into discussions concerning the far-reaching ramifications of Greedo shooting first and Han stepping over Jabba's tail alone.
While I did enjoy star wars throughout my childhood, I can't help but think that some people go a bit overboard. If you enjoy that sort of thing then great, but I personally have no use for a review that is that long.
It is a review, which as for as I am aware should be concise.
But I must admit it is nice to see people being enthusiastic about something benign.
And it did make me smile to read the headline.
So carry on, I guess.
I sense a great disturbance in the force.. as if thousands of MySQL connections cried out in anguish, then were silenced.
Heh, it's Bantha sized, not banana sized... I thought it said banana at first too.
well, since I am too cheap, my friend brought his dvd to my house and we watched it on my laptop. I wouldn't call it a total rip-off because he owns both of the previously released versions and this one is by far the prettiest. Also on this dvd is what i think is an awesome documentary on all three of the movies, "Empire of Dreams." I think I might even buy this box set, which is saying a lot considering the last dvd i got was the two towers.
Hardware Wars
Collector's Edition - 1977 (2002) - Michael Wiese Productions
review by Bill Hunt, editor of The Digital Bits
Program Rating: B
Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras): B/A-/C+
Specs and Features
13 mins, NR, full frame (1.33:1), single-sided, single-layered, Amaray keep case packaging, audio commentary with director Ernie Fosselius, Producer's Comments featurette (5 mins), Antiques Sideshow "prequel" (5 mins), Foreign Version (11 mins), Director's Cut (10 mins), Creature Feature (6 mins), photo gallery, Hollywood Gift Catalog, DVD credits, Easter egg (?), animated film-themed menus with sound effects and music, program access, languages: English (Dolby Pro Logic compatible LPCM), subtitles: none
"You'll laugh... you'll cry... you'll kiss three bucks good-bye!"
Yes, it's true. Hardware Wars - that sprawling space saga of romance, rebellion and household appliances - has finally made its way to DVD. Hardware Wars is the original Star Wars spoof - the fan film that inspired all fan films. And as such, it holds a special place in the hearts of every film geek (or film geek-at-heart). I recall the first time I ever saw the short, at a sci-fi convention in Fargo, ND, way back in 1980 or '81. They were playing it as part of a triple bill with Bambi Meets Godzilla and Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind. And it was the hit of the show. Ham Salad? Augie Ben Doggie? The evil Darph Nader? You had to love it. And we did. And now you can pick it up on your favorite 5" disc.
Video-wise, the flick looks about as good as you can expect for 25-year-old 16 mm film. Which is to say that it looks as good as it ever has, but it isn't gonna win any awards. The print is grainy, it's dirty, but that's all part of the charm. The audio is actually better than I expected, in Pro Logic compatible LPCM. You get the illusion of surround, with surprising ambience (wind noise, etc...), some panning and dialogue that moves around the front of the soundstage in cheesy but appropriate fashion. It's fun and it works.
To be honest, you get a surprising amount of extras on this disc, but all of it is the sort of thing that's probably really only funny to the folks who were involved in the making of the film in the first place. There's a tongue-in-cheek audio commentary with director Ernie Fosselius, that's cute for a few minutes but is way too scripted to be funny and too short to contain anything substantial. There's a made-up pirated "foreign" version of the film that would like you to believe it came from Russia. There's a briefly amusing Antiques Sideshow spoof "prequel" wherein an antique expert appraises the only remaining copy of the film. There's a video clip of the producer talking about the film. There's a video segment of the director being interviewed on what looks like a cable access show (from the early 80s judging by the quality). There's also a "director's version" of the film made up of outtakes and unused footage from the original production (the cat swatting at the opening titles is a funny touch). Beyond that, there's a photo gallery, a spoof Hollywood Gift Catalog and what looks like an Easter egg that will "detonate the DVD" (I couldn't figure out how to work it - maybe that's the joke). There's also supposed to be the film's script (according to the packaging) but I couldn't find it.
I'm frankly surprised, what with all this stuff, that they didn't include the goofy CGI-enhanced Special Edition version of Hardware Wars on this disc. It was done in 1997 to spoof the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. I actually bought the VHS tape a few years ago, but every time I see a VHS tape these days I get the urge to chuck it in the trash. I'm miffed that it isn't on this disc in the very same way I'd be miffed if George Lucas released only the original theatrical version of Star Wars on DVD without the Special Edition version. To be complete, you gotta have both. Yeah, I'm picking nits. But it's an obvious nit. I mean, it's not like there wasn't room on the
You mean...
For third time purchase, sucker you are.
It seems every time the trilogy is mentioned lately, somebody gripes about the "originals" being unavailable.
So just a reminder, if you look for it you can find a torrent of the "original" trilogy ripped from laserdisc to a DVD format. One DVD per movie. They have menus and everything.
And yes, I know you can't actually BUY them that way. I'll leave the piracy flamewars to other folks.
Tim Benzedrine and Hashberry. Bastahds!
I drank what? -- Socrates
Then, Gene Roddenberry saw his opportunity to resurrect Star Trek. Despite the fact that he used the same terrible actors and actresses, he convinced Paramount Pictures to fund "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".
Without "Star Wars", would "Star Trek: TMP" have been possible?
By the way, "Star Wars" is not really about science fiction. Science fiction is about belief in technology. Yet, when Luke Skywalker approached the rubicon in his ill-fated life, he faced a choice between technology (using a computer to guide 2 missiles into the Death Star's exhaust) and faith (using his belief in the power of good to guide the 2 missiles). He turned off the computer and followed his faith.
"Star Wars" is a knights' and princess' tale shrowded with buzz words from science fiction. The fundamental story is about the greater battle of good versus evil. In this life, evil seems to win too often, so we are enthralled by a movie that says, "Sometimes. Just sometimes. Good wins."
How many are dedicated to discusing Jar Jar Binks?
20. His chest-mounted life support computer also doubles as an electronic day planner.
Big deal, I hacked my pacemaker to double as an iPod!
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
DVD Remastered THX Collector's Set....$49
Forcing wife to watch the whole trilogy yet again....priceless.
Be Safe! Sleep with a Marine. Semper Fi!
hmm...
/.'d already...someone got a mirror?
Not again - another damned Star Wars book/commentary/special edition. Sometimes I wish George Lucas would die, but that would mean a crapload of retrospectives and eulogies for him.
Enough is enough.
The most significant change is the replacement of the Anakin ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi with Hayden Christensen.
I haven't bought the DVDs yet, but this is the one thing I read about the changes that really aggravated me. Is it not possible for Anakin to have aged? Obviously a great deal of time has passed since Episode III, and wouldn't it make sense for Anakin to look older? This seems to be George's biggest mistake in his second set of updates, in my opinion. As the article said, at least they didn't replace Alec Guiness.
I hope no one walks by my office. I'm laughing so hard, I have tears in my eyes.
When will the media get this right??
There is no way Star Wars is sci-fi. It's space opera (and third rate at that).
In light of the massive restoration effort by Lowry Digital, who did an awesome job with Indiana Jones (and other movies) the color quality is messed up beyond belief. To put it simply, theres too much red, and everything on the whole is too saturated. It just doesn't look natural. On the other hand, its quite sharp and clean considering how bad Lowry Digital said the condition was when they got it. It probably wasn't their fault on the color. If I recall correctly, GL wanted it to make it look similiar to the prequels. Since they were shot on HDCam it was probably just naturally saturated. Trying to adjust the film to look the same way however, has just left it looking completely unnatural. Even more interestingly is how when Lucas transffered Phantom Menace to DVD, he went hdcam->film->dvd to make it match the film look of the original trilogy. Now, he's tried to make the original trilogy match up in quality with the prequels by making them look "more digital." Example #346 of GL not being able to make up his mind.
Three?
1. Fox video stereo edition
2. "THX" edition
3. Laserdisc
4. Special Edition
5. Special Edition - Letterbox
6. Special Edition on DVD
That's just what I'm sure of off the top of my head. I would guess that the Fox video version was also available on Betamax, but I'm not sure.
-Peter
there was that guy in new zealand running a server on his 128k dsl line who got slashdotted. ;o)
I think that was faster.
"You worthless post!"
-Shakespeare, 2 Gentlemen of Verona, 1. 1. 147
In Star Wars, the future is a mess. From the rough-and-tumble welded and plated spaceships to the brushed concrete buildings full of dingy flickering lights, to dusty deserts and seedy cantinas, the universe envisioned in Star Wars had a gritty, industrial look, a jaded cynicism that had rarely been expressed in cinema before
Eh? I can't agree with this. Outside of Mos Eisley, the world of the first three Star Wars movies was industrial, yet clean. Just go to the scenes inside the spaceships, the Death Star. The Imperial design was "blocky", but that is far from dystopian. It was more Victorian SF than say 1930's Futurism. Even the rebel base at the end of New Hope was pretty clean.
And even Mos Eisley wasn't that bad (apart from being a wretched hive of scum and villainy). Dark? Ok... it was a bar. Outside it look about as dystopian as the ape town in Planet of the Apes. And that movie got dark and wierd when they found the remains of NYC (especially in Beneath with its post-apocolyptic underground).
Bleek futures had existed in Hollywood before, and some were on a more grimey tip than SW: Soylent Green, The Omega Man. Basically anywhere you had a post-fallout society, you had some pessimistic views, a pessimism that Star Wars lacks.
And that's just film. Dystopia was pretty stock in SF literature. The world of the proles was bad in 1984 or that even that of the Morlocks in Time Machine.
The true thrust of dystopianism in film is usually agreed to be the merger of SF and Film Noir. This achieved critical mass with Ridley Scotts movies (Blade Runner, Alien both mentioned in this article). And many would point to Godard's 1956 Alphaville as the first movie to explore this connection. It even used a form of Orwell's Newspeak.
There's probably more geneological ties to those movies than the pretty standard rebel v. evil empire aesthetic in Star Wars. And all of this does nothing to diminish the series' gargantuan impact.
What is music when you despise all sound?
Since the site is /.'ed into oblivion, I feel that I can happily weigh in with my opinions on this article without having to be told to RTFA first.
Fact is, I saw the original when it first came out. I know the impact it has had on film making and science fiction. If I want to read a review of the DVD trilogy, why should I have to read a crap load of words about its "impact" at the same time. I just want to know whether Lucas' tinkering has destroyed the film or not.
(sticking head out of car) Nerdddddddddddddddd!!!!!!
better than the prequels.
"A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
"d'Oh!" ~Homer
because more is always better
Considering I've never purchased any of the previous releases, I'm not sure how much of a sucker that makes me.
Sure these are the bastardized versions but the DVD transfer is very nice and clean.
Besides now I don't have to feel bad about my transferred off laserdisc original trilogy version.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
it did! they changed it!
...is just a pile of bantha pudu
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I thought the point of the "ghost" was to show the Jedi at (presumably) the latest point in their life they were "good".
If that's the case (and maybe it's not), isn't the importance of Anakin Skywalker's redemption somewhat diminished if his apparition doesn't really reflect the fact that he abandoned the Dark Side at the end?
This is probably a debate for bigger Star Wars nerds than I, but I thought I should at least throw that out to the discussion.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
what?
(Something from the movies I would guess)
I half expected to see SUCKERS printed 11,000 times...
It was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Where do you get this "future?"
I'm fairly certain that without Star Wars, Star Trek: TMP would have been possible, since it was in development in one form or another at least as long as Star Wars was... Although it may not have been intended to be a movie the whole time, since Roddenberry was originally developing it as a TV series for the soon-to-be-launched (1976) Paramount Network. Heh.
Without "Star Wars", would "Star Trek: TMP" have been possible? By the way, "Star Wars" is not really about science fiction...
Is the parent suggesting that Star Trek is science fiction? Since I am a fan of both, I don't want to invite a flame war, but...
I agree that Star Wars is "a knights' and princess' tale shrowded with buzz words from science fiction". But I would also go on to say that Star Trek is "an ongoing soap opera shrowded with buzz words from science fiction".
Both are a lot of fun, but I don't consider either Science Fiction. [Quick! Raise shields and angle the deflector arrays!!!]
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
http://www.moviebums.com ... is much better.
You Asshole... I was at work when I clicked on that.
You know, I really don't mind Lucas going in and tinkering with SFX, and when he says he puts stuff in he wanted to get in originally but couldn't because of budget and technology, I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even if the newer SFX are digitally fakey, even if they're somewhat _silly_, I can get over it.
What I _CAN'T_ get over is changing lines of dialogue and neutering characters at the editing deck for inscrutable purposes.
Han fired first. Period. The fact that he did speaks to his character, and changing that changes his character. If Harrison Ford cared, I'm sure he'd be pissed.
The A&E documentary released to hype up the DVD set goes into how during Empire they kept shooting takes of the Carbonite scene between Han and Leia, how Ford couldn't get a good take with "I love you too" in response to Leia's "I love you". Ford ad-libbed Han's most famous line, and the only reason it survived and made cinema history is because Lucas wasn't directing.
That's it! I'm going to Moe's!
"Star Wars" is a knights' and princess' tale shrowded with buzz words from science fiction.
Hence the term "Science Fantasy".
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Now when Lea takes the blaster in the cavern in "A New Hope" it doesn't suddenly change into a 44-Magnum sound effect.
Before: "zap zap zap... here, take this... bang bang"
After: "zap zap zap ... here, take this... zap zap"
In the time it takes to read through 11K worth of review, you could have watched the movie.
I'm pretty sure we all understand the movie. Afterall, it has been around since the days Carrie Fisher looked hot in a bikini.
Live forever, or die trying.
You Asshole...
An appropriate exclamation for what you just saw...
I never purchased or watched the special editions of the movies prior to purchasing the DVDs. I felt that they were an abomination and should be avoided. Unfortunatly I was bored the other night and broke down and bought them (I just got a 51" widescreen tv and really wanted to see them).
Overall most of the enhancements are ok. There are only 4 things I would have eliminated or not changed.
1) Han shoots first.
2) The silly extended dance routine in Jabba's Palace.
3) Hayden Christensen as a spirit at the end of Jedi. This just doesn't make sense.
4) The celebration song at the end of Jedi. I missed the old one.
Please describe, if you can. Grandparent did get a Funny and Informative along with the Troll, and I am curious about what that indicates.
But then I must err on the side of caution, as I am at work as well. What did that link to?
The biggest changes that I noticed:
- Ep 4 - Jabba was redone and looks a lot better than in the original special edition. Still obviously CG, but at least it's an improvement and not something worse. Also, Han and Greedo shoot at the same time.
- Ep 5 - The emperor is now the actual emperor when you see Vader talking to him through the big communicator. Before it was a fugly emperor that looked nothing like the Ep. 6 emperor. Also, they added dialogue about Luke being the son of Anakin Skywalker and yada yada.
- Ep 6 - At the end, it is Hayden instead of the original Vader guy. They did it well, but that one's left up to personal preference as to whether it's Good or Bad.
So if all you have is the VHS special edition, this is worth picking up. Even if you have the originals, the improved picture and sound is nice.1. 11 000 words = 22 000 bytes.
2. Assuming an average word is 5 bytes, the text is actually 4 400 words.
3. Repeat.
The review is actually just one quad word in hexadecimal notation: 10CA550CC5.
Oh what the heck:
4. Profit.
ditto jerk.
Comon, it's not like it's that unplausible!
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
Just look at the URL.
Why was this modded up?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Lois, this isn't my Batman glass. - Peter
Overall, I was impressed with the DVD set, although at times Lucas is trying too much to link them to the first three movies.
Good things:
Most of the changes that were from the 1997 releases were good IMHO, such as making Mos Eisley look bigger and "more alive", making the Cloud City a little less claustrophobic, and making the Death Star and Alderaan explosions a little more impressive. I also liked Jabba's new band in Ep-6, it seemed the kind of excess a crime lord like Jabba would have.
The changes I didn't care much for includes changing the Han/Greedo shooting scene (again - that should have been left alone), changes in the shooting scene in the Prison Block (Imperial Personnel are no longer obviously shot), the new Anakin Skywalker ghost at the end of EP6 along with all of the firework scenes from various locations (actually, I have mixed feeling on this one -- I know that the Emperor was killed, but would the Empire crumble that quickly? We are talking about hours to a day or so from the destruction of the Death Star II to Vader's funeral pyre.
There are other changes (both 1997 vintage and new to this set), but they are for the most part do not affect the movie one way or the other, at least in my opinion.
The 3 movies are still fun to watch, so as far as I'm concerned, the purchase was worth it. It would be nice to be able to get the original movies on DVD, too.
Beware of Sleestak
Do not click link in parent post, link to goatse.cx, you know the drill.
goatse.cx
real fucking funny.
00101010
That's no MOON...
Mod parent DOWN, it's not a link to the article... it's.. bad.
Bush Lies On the Record.
Very funny, now turn it down before the neighbors call the cops!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
the soundtracks...
Vinyl
Cassette Tape
Compact Disk
Special Edition Compact Disk
My 3 words about Star Wars: No big deal.
Now, don't tell me that my opinion that Star Wars is not a big deal in the film history makes me a troll.
Hate to break it to you, but Gene Roddenberry began work on the new Star Trek in 1975 (Two years before Star Wars had any sway)... Originaly for TV, it evolved into a Motion Picture later on. Not to mention the cartoon between 1973 and 1975.
:)
Star Trek was HUGE in the 70s, moreso than when it was in original runs.
Methinks that maybe you weren't born when Star Wars or Star Trek made their original theater runs
SUCKERS!!!
- George
In Soviet Russia, sucker purchases you!
Here's a situation where none of us has RTFA.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
...about the '97 release was that horrible sequence with Han and Jabba in EP4. What were they thinking?
In EP6, Jabba looked huge, and disgusting... like he was supposed to be. For some reason he didn't look either huge or disgusting, or particularly intimidating either.
And hell, they even had Han repeating lines from the Greedo scene ("Hey, even I get boarded sometimes"). Were they even trying??
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
Which one of you *brokeded* their server? Speak up!!! You'll get what's due to you!
Karma man... it's all KARMA!
Live forever, or die trying.
Science fiction is about belief in technology.
I've never seen a definition of science fiction as "belief in technology." The science fiction I've read usually shows how technology leads to the destruction of society or the world.
Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
Redundant can be taken to mean that the statement does not need to be said, it can be taken for granted.
11 words condensed still equals 11
Is such a blindingly obvious statement, that it really does require a -1 redundant rating.
SOMEBODY please mod that one down and dont any one reading this click on it.. Its disgusting and disturbing.
Roll over the link and you can see that it goes to goatsex. What kind of idiot are you?
Who's the more foolish, the fool, or the fool who follows him?
Much Ado about Nothing... And who can argue with him?
When I first read this headline, I thought it meant there were 11,000 words on the DVD itself (or within the DVD package). Then I read the caption and, well, it made more sense. But I was much more excited when I initially thought that Lucas & Co. had written a ton of stuff for Star Wars fanatics to enjoy... or hate, whatever.
Under twelve parsecs?
Post sometihng on Slashdot about Star Wars and see how fast it's slashdotted.
*DrugCheese rants*
If you say something which everybody else is already thinking, or something which everybody else has already heard a thousand times before, you are redundant, even if you were the winner of the race to post your "insight" on slashdot ahead of all the other Karma Whores who were typing the exact same thing.
(Now that is a good movie.)
You know, from "Revenge of the Nerds."
I wouldn't call it a total rip-off because he owns both of the previously released versions and this one is by far the prettiest.
The ripoff is that your friend was duped into buying the two inferior versions. Why wasn't the good version released first?
One wonders if a Davinci who lived long into old age, might have painted a smile face on top of the Mona Lisa in a fit of senility...
20% Troll
20% Overrated
according to a new poll, only 50% of slashdotters mastubate.
mod me up for not posting this anonymously!
This Sig is removed due to factual inaccuracy
Phew, thank goodness for "Open link in New Tab". I read the replies just one second too late, but was able to close the tab without it ever "rearing" its evil form on my screen.
Sacré-bleu! Where is me mama?
(my first ever MPU! post)
Absolutely, it was all about the redemption!
And to erase the redeemed Anakin is to nullify the moment when he saw his son being zapped by the Emperor, deciding "fuck it, it was never supposed to be this way", and taking the Emperor out.
I didn't buy the DVDs, nor do I plan to, especially since now I wonder whether in "Lucas' Vision" Anakin ever got redeemed, or if Anakin was truly destroyed by Vader.
Not that it really matters, but it does change the premise of the movie.
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
So how the hell did Luke recognize him?
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Is there such a thing ? Does this review offer it ?
Appeals to my inner nerd anyhoo.
-S
Despite the big syndication ratings, Star Trek: Phase II never caught on. It wasn't until George Lucas made a mint on Star Wars that Paramount came calling looking to capitalize on their existing sci-fi franchise. So, Roddenberry rolled all the Phase II stuff into TMP and made enough money to rebuild the franchise. But without Star Wars, all we'd have today is the original series running in syndication.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Without "Star Wars", would "Star Trek: TMP" have been possible?
These are the questions that haunt us. What sort of nightmarish world would we today inhabit had there never been a "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"? No, no, it's too horrible even to contemplate. Let us instead give daily thanks in our prayers that there was "Star Wars", and for all the blessings it has brought upon us. For we are huge nerds, and so forever shall be. Amen.
who cares?
Without "Star Wars", would "Star Trek: TMP" have been possible? Maybe. But much, much more imnportant: without Star Wars, would the Buck Rogers series starring Gil Gerard have been possible?
my password is private, but unchanged.
Bald chicks are hottt !!!
Not that I really care too much, but as a point of interest - if one owns the "better" or "more recent" version of something, is there entitelement to previous versions?
For example, if I own a CD, I can rip it to Mp3. Supposedly, if I scratched said CD, I could download it anew. Probably not so if I just owned the tape and the mp3 was still ripped from CD.
Butttt... the laserdisk != the DVD. So I'm not sure that owning the edited DVD entitles one to a copy of the laserdisk, but I could probably download a divX rip of the DVD which I own?
If you have a modded Xbox, do NOT put dvd 4 into it or your modifications will NOT work anymore! The DVD forcefeeds updates into the console, causing it to disable any mods of hacks that the console has in it.
m al icious_.html/ sep/EpAVlAVpuZ DrYOIHtX.phpp hp?showtopic=2 78283&st=195
I tried posting the warning to be put on as news, but it appeared that the editors has bigger things to do, like figuring out who to line up for barfights.
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/09/24/lucas_put_
http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
Namaste
Darn Rebels still get their version of history! Long live the Empire! Long live the Sith! Darth Maul still lives! There never where any Gungans, it's all lies! Same thing for Ewoks! ...
Angelina Jolie is hot!
Oh sorry folks, my ranting got out of control.
Oops, how did this get here?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
There are actually three versions on Laserdisc...
1. THX edition
2. Ulitmate Collector's Edition
3. Special Edition
I've got two and three.
I know there's a VCD version out there
goddamn it friggen starwars geeks...get a girlfriend, marry her, have some kids etc..
no your right hand is not a substitute!
GET A FUCKING LIFE!
Lucas has never denied any of this. He very carefully followed the classic story archetypes, working closely with Joseph Campbell, the professor who first pointed out the common themes of mythology. He just decided to set it in space for some reason.
a coworker of mine estimated what the janitorial staff of the deathstar would have to be to keep the thing up and running. see below: "The presently-available evidence indicates that the diameter of the first Death Star is in the range 160 - 165km, although the purely canonical evidence cannot strictly rule out a smaller figure close to the commonly published 120km value. The diameter of the Death Star II is in the range 800km - 960km." That gives the first (and much smaller Death Star) a volume of 2.143 million cubic kilometers. Our building might have a total volume of 0.0005 (being generous) of a cubic kilometer. We have a cleaning staff of at least 5 people, and no residential area (which would likely impose a lower demand, since people take care of their own area). So lets say that this gives us a number of 200 required cleaning staff per cubic kilometer of building. This means that the janitorial staff of the death star would have to be close to 450 million janitors to maintain the death star, disregarding the admittedly large volume dedicated to spaces like the central core and giant laser of doom power system.
Martini Glasses
I would have loved to have the original theatrical releases rather than GL's re-hashes. (Or at least like the release of Brazil with all three versions.)
What really bothered me was the horrible digital artifacts. In a couple of the dog fight scenes you can see the mat background of the superimposed photos of the fighters. It shows up as a slightly less black square surrounding the ships against a darker deep space. Plus the stars are blocked out.
I saw this a lot in the Star Trek series when it was digitized. Mostly anytime a shuttle left the bay.
Also there were some wierd red shadows in some of the more spectacular explosions.
... Music with a back-beat!
IV - The Jabba/Solo meeting at MosEisley pad 94 - the film stock for Solo's appearance wasn't that great, or at least he seems a bit too grainy. He also looks kind of two-dimensional. Jabba is walking, er, sliming around and he moves with such ease that I find it unbelieveable, even when I suspend disbelief for the duration of the film. Jabba would send someone to do the pressing of Solo anyway, so it's twice unbelieveable. The scene doesn't add anything to the story, so I figure it was just an attempt to have CG allow old filmstock to be used. IV - All the CG creature shots - great addition. Adds to the eye candy.
V - Didn't really notice anything apart from the addition of the Hoth ice creature in full view. He used to be played by a severed arm, but he looks much more fearsome in the flesh, and it makes the first twenty minutes of the film a little more zingy.
VI - I have two gripes here: 1) The addition of the CG-generated performers in Jabba's palace was a waste. Yeah, the old puppetish singer with the really-long trunk looked a little cheesy, but I thought the CG and the addition of the punky backup singers was even worse. 2) The changing of Anakin's apparition to match the visage of the pre-dark-side anakin in III, just bugged me. I liked the continuity of an Anakin apparition that resembled the unhelmeted Vader. After all, the Obi-wan apparition doesn't look like Ewan, it looks like Alec. It was a dumb move.
Okay, so there are my beefs. Nope, it's not 11,000 words, but at least it's here to read.
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
But without Star Wars, all we'd have today is the original series running in syndication.
Your inference seems to be that this is a bad thing. I'm puzzled.
That would be my preference. I didn't mind star trek movies #2 and #4, but I'd be willing to sacrafice them to prevent 1,3,5, and any next-generation anything from having been made. Just one man's opinion.
http://xkcd.com/386/
I was raised on the holy trinity of Kirk/Spock/McCoy, and I AGREE with you. Let them come...
Seriously, Star Trek episodes were an exercise in morality, with ongoing character development, where it behooved you to have seen previous episodes to catch all the jokes in the next one. I don't consider it soap opera though - that would be Dark Shadows. Soap opera for goths.
I watched Star Trek every day after school, along with Dark Shadows and Dr. Who. I dare say Dr. Who wasn't really sci-fi either.
*ducks*
The House Between - Original Sci-Fi Series
I actually have one of the ORIGINAL Fox video rental-only copies from the very first video release... And it still plays. Wonder how much THAT little treasure is worth?
with all the zillions of dollars lucas spent cleaning it up, how did NO ONE notice the blocks still visible around the TIE fighters during the fight scene with the falcon in Ep 4?!?!?
trilogy owners: look at 1:35:16 for one example.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
1. Fox video stereo edition
2. PROFIT!
3. "THX" edition
4. PROFIT!
5. Laserdisc
6. PROFIT!
7. Special Edition
8. PROFIT!
9. Special Edition - Letterbox
10. PROFIT!
11. Special Edition on DVD
12. PROFIT!
(sorry I could not find out where to put the ??? patr)
If Yoda so strong in Force is, why words in right order he cannot put?
Okay, so I take it you hated DS9 with a firey vengence too, along with all the other good Sci-fi series that rode Next Gen's wake (Babylon 5, for instance). For that matter, we wouldn't have Terminator 1 & 2, and (here's the biggie), no LOTR Films. Why, you ask? Because thanks to the Star Wars trilogy, special effects became an industry, rather than just something they did occassionally when one film or another called for it (meaning no WETA Digital).
Zagreus sits inside your head, Zagreus lives among the dead, Zagreus sees you in your bed and eats you in your sleep.
who needs to read 11,000 words on this. I could probably watch the movies in that time. Better yet, instead of 11,000 words, just give me 11 pictures.
"Without "Star Wars", would "Star Trek: TMP" have been possible?"
Yes. TMP was originally 'Star Trek: Phase II', a new series that they started building sets for. When the change was made to TMP, it was still well before SW had come out. ST was coming whether SW was there or not.
A better question would be "Was STII a result of Star Wars?" I personally believe the answer is still no, as nothing in the first movie indicated there would be any sort of SW's action. But, still, I imagine somebody has an interesting alternative point of view.
"Derp de derp."
2 things:
First, I'm just waiting for all 9 to come out in the "super duper last ever we promise StarWars rocks" box set.
Second, Episode 3 *should* rock. Ya, 1&2 kinda sucked (I still enjoyed em) but episode 3 - thats the clone wars baby! Anikan becomes Darth. etc... Basically 3 will be one huge, awesome, battle. On top of that, it will be kind of like episode 5 (Empire Strikes Back - Best one in my opinion) cause the evil guys will win. w00t. I love evil prospering over good - its so much more - real lifeish.
...Had this been an actual emergency, we would have fled in terror, and you would not have been informed.
Yeah. Just made it last night actually...
I haven't purchased any of the SE, originals, or what not. I haven't even seen the first half of return of the Jedi.
I haven't bought the dvds yet although i plan to.
That would be my preference. I didn't mind star trek movies #2 and #4
Now that's got to be a troll. You can't seriously be claiming you liked the one with the wales??? The only one worse than that was the one with a god at the center of the galaxy.
Uh, wasn't that actually from Moby Dick?
I just watched the remastered _A New Hope_, and during the sandtrooper scene, all I could think of was the immortal words of Dark Helmet:
"Comb the desert!"Well maybe if *YOU* bought the DVD set, it would make the thrid-time. There are many of us who don't own any other copies of the original Star Wars trilogy in any format and this will be the first-time owning them you insensitve clod!
Darth Vader is really Luke's father!
- Kevin
The less confident you are, the more serious you have to act.
How about Video Disk? Video Disk I only have Empire though.
I've been trying to read "The Star Wars" screenplay. It would seem that it is:
1. Write an embarrassingly bad screenplay.
2. ???
3. Becomes a colossal hit. (Profit.)
-Peter
Is this unexplainable BLUE DOOR...The escape pod from the Tantive IV seems to have been the set for a low budget series of commercials starring the droids, and a rapping salami, set all on bluescreen. Its the only explanation that makes sense!
Find it at 8:50 in ANH, if youre that way inclined.
yeah... but Khan said it too.
Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
3'rd time? Lemme see...
1] Beta
2] VHS
3] Laser disk standard edition(s)
4] Laser disk directors cuts
5] VHS re-releases
6] DVD
No wonder I hate lucas! He owes me a house!
Why are you here?
or
This is not the discussion you're looking for. Move along....
"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..."
nuff said. Their first sentance is inaccurate. If anything the *PAST* is in a mess... Anyway my 2 cents.
To be fair, "???" involves make up some fantastic action-y special effects with a whole new FX studio, this whole cool "boiler plate" style of modeling and special camera control, and figure out how to show just enough of a universe so it looks tantalizingly huge and like the audience is just seeing a part of it...give the man some credit, the first movie really broke some new ground in a lot of ways.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
I can't post a URL, but I'm 100% sure I've read exactly this phrase in at least 15 movie reviews starting about 20 years ago.
The true thrust of dystopianism in film is usually agreed to be the merger of ... and Film Noir. This achieved critical mass with
We've read this, too, in a dozen movie reviews, with various things replacing the 3 dots. I wonder how difficult it would be to write a program that would write movie reviews?
DVD was not available then.
I haven't seen anyone else, anywhere, mentioning the ONE thing that absolutely ruined ESB for me. The scene occurs right after Luke jumps down the shaft in Cloud City. Darth Vader is walking out, and the only words out of his mouth are a husky-sounding, "Bring my shuttle." There was a depth of emotion -- anger, sadness -- that I picked up on in that little scene.
... yeah, Han shoots first, but whatever ... more digital aliens, gives the ILM guys good practice ... but in my opinion that single scene took a great movie and made it into a merely good movie.
Now they've got this lame voice-over from Vader, "Alert the commander to prepare for my arrival," or something like that. Throw in some re-used footage from RotJ (Vader's Death Star II arrival) for when he lands on his flagship and you've taken ALL the emotion out of Vader's revelation and its consequences (at least on his part).
Everything else I could cope with
Hell, it should be an option on the damn DVD:
We ain't found SHIT!
And TOS (and "The Outer Limits", "Twilight Zone") showed that you could tell science fiction storys without a huge special-effects budget. Hell, most of the sets looked like a college play, at best. It's sad that that point is lost on today's producers. I guess the kids like shiny things.
Yeah! In fact I am sick of constantly reading news for nerds! I wish it would stop!
Has anyone else noticed the crappy box this DVD came in. Its the most flimsy thing I've ever seen and its all I can do to keep it safe. The Lord of the Rings Special edition boxes are the way to go. Hardback box sets are the only way to do DVD box sets
Yes, but this time, it purchased me first.
"Proudly Posting Without Reading The Article"
Lucas is getting like Microsoft -- patching his mistakes provides a steady stream of revenue!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I haven't watched all the way through all of them yet, but I have found a couple of minor sound changes that are on the DVD set that were not on the regular Special Edition.
.45 magnum or something. On this DVD release, it has been changed to the normal laser sound.
A New Hope: In the scene where Luke and Leia are running down the Death Star hallway and get to the dead-end bridge, there is a famous sound effect mistake/joke. There are stormtroopers shooting at them while Luke is trying to get his grappling hook ready to swing across. In only that scene, the blaster Luke and Leia are using to shoot back is making *bang* sounds like a
Empire Strikes Back: In previous editions, the same scream sound effect was used for the Emperor falling down the shaft on the Death Star as when Luke fell down the shaft in Cloud City. In this new edition, Luke falls silently--no scream of any kind. I have not watched the emperor section of ROTJ yet to see if the Emperor still yells; my guess would be he probably does.
We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
Indeed there is a betamax version of at least the original Star Wars, I have seen it. Don't know about Empire or Jedi
Foo?
Another way to look at it is, without Star Trek, would Star Wars have been possible? No trying to fbe a troll, but, I don't think it would've been possible. IMHO, Star Trek:TOS made Star Wars Possible and Star Wars made Star Trek:TMP, TNG, DS9, etc. possible. So it could be said that the made each other.
I first noticed 'em on Tatooine when the droids are wandering around the desert about 10 minutes in. C3PO is surrounded by a greenish haze that flickers in and out. The artificial "twilight" when R2D2 is rolling down the Jawa canyon is somewhat disconcerting. The rocks on the ground have severely out-of-gamut highlights; they look like fiberglass props with lights inside. Not bad, making real rocks look fake.
Yeah, the Star Wars Universe was huge! Several planets! Dagobah! with, um, a shrimpy toad guy. Hoth! with, um, a scary snow guy! Tatooine! with, um, a big mouth in the desert. Coruscant! with, um 10 Jedi Knights! and about a hundred Storm Troopers
To be honest, I always found a certain "claustrophia" in the Star Wars movies. You understand the "universe" of the story is huge, but it never really feels like anything more than a handful of heroes, two bad guys and a small swarm of targets (Storm Troopers, Ewoks, Battle Droids). Look at the Death Star with it's thousands, er, hundreds, well, basically about 3 locations. Look at the massive battle on Naboo with millions, er, thousands, well... maybe a hundred Gungans.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
An important point imho is that "A new hope" dates back to 1977, and therefore the copyrights are already more than 25 years old. Editing the films allows GL to start again with fresh copyrights for whoever will inherits them from him.
Unless you're buying it for the first time....
"Hot lesbian witches! It's fucking genius!"
Apparently you misunderstood the use of bold in my post. I seperated Star Wars part from the Star Trek part. I thought I was clear is saying what I would give up and what exactly I would prevent. Yes, DS9 is included in that list, for me. Babylon 5, Terminator, LoTR et al are not Star Trek related and therefore are also outside the scope of the discussion. If you have a different opinion, terrific! Please don't try to strawman me into sharing it, however.
http://xkcd.com/386/
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Actually, "the one with the wales" was my favorite. While it is popular on slashdot to confuse 'opinion' with 'troll', my opinion is that those movies were at least watchable, while the others are not. That is just my opinion. You don't have to share it, but there's no chance of you changing it through this forum.
http://xkcd.com/386/
Da Vinci did live into senility and kept the Mona Lisa with him until he died. So, no. He wasn't as obsessivly senile as a certain film maker.
did they say what happens at the end?
There was an unknown error in the submission.
But without Star Wars, all we'd have today is the original series running in syndication.
Is that such a bad thing? Have you seen this new Enterprise show yet? I liked TOS and TNG, but everything after those two seems severely lacking, much like these prequal trilogies for Star Wars.
Come on, that's just a tagline that shows at the beginning, because this film series is an homage to the storytelling of old serials like Flash Gordon. It's a sci-fi fantasy adventure film, and referring to "the future" in this case refers to the fictional futuristic environment it takes place in. Don't be so anal...
Perhaps it would have been made without SW, but no way it would have gotten the monstrous budget (for the time) that it got.
I guess for me it comes from showing things but not over-explaining them. (Of course the Expanded Universe stuff does a good job of that) Grungy ships, lots of different robots, some dropped referenes (Kessel Run, Nerf herder), ESB and RotJ had some big feeling in the battles, etc.
Now of course the prequels undoes a lot of that...we're back on the Tatooine! Again! And this kid MADE 3CP0! And when they do throw in new stuff, sometimes it's amazingly petty-- look! it's a tax dispute on a random fringe world!
I absolutely agree that it doesn't feel like a whole-Galaxy-dominating Empire though, despite a # of throwaway lines, I'd buy like...300 or 400 worlds, tops. And "small moon"...yeah yeah yeah.
Anyway, maybe I was just a dumb kid, but the original trilogy felt pretty wide open to me. People raised on better scifi than I was may differ.
Death Star had...lessee, conference room, big laser room, big landing bay, a few random hallways, control room, prison level, trash compactor, room outside of landing bay, pit to swing through, pit to disable tractor beam, place for Emperor to sit around and watch things...not too bad for an hour or so of movie. Oh and outside it had gun emplacements, a trench, a big laser dish, and a little hole to make it go boom. And a big glowing core to make it go boom again.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
Don't forget Erin Gray in that tight little bodysuit..
0 ro gers&num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&sa=N&tab= wi
http://images.google.com/images?q=erin%20buck%2
is Bantha Poodoo ...
Han subscribed to the Bush doctrine.
Seems to me the last good movie in the franchise was Empire Strikes Back. That was in what, 1980? That being the case, why do people still live and die by the series?
This phenomenon is even more extreme than the Trek-worship thing. Trek's overall quality level is far higher than that of Star Wars. And, uhhhh... that's saying something.
Yoda != Ghandi.
Intolerance for ambiguity is the mark of the authoritarian personality.
I think the point is, perhaps when your body is killed and your "spirit" joins the Force, you can appear as however you want to appear. You appear as how you see yourself.
Obi-Wan and Yoda were at peace with their older selves, their older selves embodied the wisdom they had gained over their lifetimes, so that's how they appeared.
Maybe Anakin wanted to see the Force Image of himself as when he was young and in the prime of his life, before he turned to the Dark Side, instead of the burned, crippled nightmare body he died as. The crippled ghost has a certain amount of pathos, though, because it says he lived so long with that image of himself it carried into his afterlife. I guess it's up to you to decide which you think fits best.
What I would like to see is an edit done between the "special edition" dvds and the THX laserdiscs (there are dvd-r ready torrents out there)that keep the zippy new special effects, but knock out all the crap the SE screwed us over on.
I wonder what the "Phantom Edit" guy is up to?
But it's all just fantasy anyway ...
The real Captain Avatar is a fictional character, so I suppose he doesn't mind if I impersonate him.
your also forgeting the CED versions (video vinyl).
Come, come, I like to bash Star Wars as much as the next guy
I began to make a serious point and just started having fun with it. Books often have the same problem too. Tolkien, Eddings and Pratchett created worlds which are both large and well fleshed-out. Science fiction is a little harder because a realistic scale means your universe is IMMENSE, but it happens. The problem with movies is that its easier to connect to a story that focuses on a single hero or a small group of heroes. The only good exception that I can think is Apollo 13, where all the NASA engineers, working together with the astronauts were the heroes.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
... I will NOT purchase these DVDs, and my relatives are instructed not to buy them for me. I will only buy the THX remastered version on DVD, which we've been promised will never be released.
Screw Lucas. 50 years from now I'll still have my VHS tapes. Of course, I may have to get a video capture card and do the DVD thing myself.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Here, beginning of the second paragraph. Says Episode II was the first.
So l0z3r? But the game rocks.
Yeah, you left out the RCA SelectaVision CED version.
I ain't buyin' again until the HD-DVD version.
No kidding. I said basically the same thing and they said I was trolling.
How much can they milk a series?
'Course, Starwars Galaxies makes Episode 1 look like great cinema. So I think the whoring of the franchise has only begun.
Intolerance for ambiguity is the mark of the authoritarian personality.
I really don't know why everyone thinks Lucas deserves the benefit of the doubt, or anything like that.
You've all seen EP1 & EP2, so you know he's now making movies that nobody but a little kid would find interesting... From start to finish, EP2 looks like it's all a big cartoon, with the contrast turned up too far. Without a doubt, he would completely rape EP4,5,6 if the technology was advanced enough that he could.
You can see these new movies, remember what the originals were like, and just mentally dismiss the changes, but imagine you're seeing the movies for the first time. The changes he's made really ruin the whole movie, and it bothers me to think that the great trilogy will not be around for future generations to watch. I'll be keeping my VHS copies under lock and key. Sure, they may not be visually quite as good as these remastered version, but video quality makes little difference. It's only for mindless action movies with no story where the quality means more than the content.
Thank goodness for the internet... Hopefully it won't take long for the "Phantom Edit" version to come out, minus the crap Lucas added.
Frankly, you just have to suck it up and admit, even though he somehow managed to make a very good trillogy, whatever made it work is gone now, and he's nothing but a hack who has been riding his dumb luck for decades.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
...because they hadn't invented DVD the first two times around.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
It doesn't help, though, that we keep going back to f&^$$ing Tatooine again and again
That's because Tatooine is the source of spice. Without it the empire would come to a standstill because ships could no longer travel through hyperspace. The spice is produced by Sarlaccs and.... oh never mind.
Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde. - Voltaire
I think I was 11 when the first movie came out and it was lots of fun at the time. However, there is one thing I still don't like :
Why can't stormtroopers shoot ?
Don't these guys ever go to a shooting range or something, are those supposed to be the elite force of the empire ? They are absolutely pathetic.
And don't even get me started on the droids in ep1. Can't hit a stationnary target that's 10m away ? Who the hell wrote their software ?
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
Loath as I am to defend Lucas' lack of imagination, it does make sense in the context of the story. If the kids comes from there, then his family will be there, so that is where Luke gets dumped with his uncle.
I suppose you could also support the return in Jedi in the same kind of way -- Solo was there because he delt with someone there, and so that was where he got dragged back to. However, it would have been so easy to give Jabba a home on another planet.
However, one thing I think it's important to remember is that Lucas' stated aim was not to produce good SF. He was aiming to create the feel of a pulp series, and those were always claustrophobic. How many planets Ming the Merciless rule?
_O_
.|< The named which can be named is not the true named
(sorry I could not find out where to put the ??? patr)
It's in at 6b:
6. PROFIT!
6b. Improvements???
7. Special Edition
8. PROFIT!
Hope this helps...
Mark
Liked this comment? Why not buy me something nice
The technology that lets aliens fire first was not available until now.
...but to make Greedo look evil. He is more evil than Han Solo after all. You can say he's as much as...
Blah blah blah mental masturbation blah blah blah
Your head a splode
Who the hell wrote their software?
Star Fleet Redshirts.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
The real problem here is the internet. It gives every no-talent hack armchair reviewer with no idea of what they babble about a voice that they clearly don't deserve. Then it allows them to subject the rest of us to their valueless opinion.
And a massive re-write. Seriously, that draft is a piece of crap.
.
It is also suspiciously similar to EP1 on a lot of themes and plot points . .
On the up side there is some fucking in a control room closet.
-Peter
IIRC there were at least two LaserDisc editions.
This is wrong. They even had costumes made and sets build already. As well as actors casted. They reused some stuff for the motion picture. Decker was meant as would-be-replacement for Kirk if Shatner got too expensive and the actor who played Commander Branch in the movie was supposed to be a vulcan replacement for Spock as Nimoy had no interst in another TV-series. Lieutenant Ilia was also written for the series and later kinda reintroduced as Diana Troy. A lot of the concepts for phase II made it into Next Generation anyway.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079945/trivia
http://www.robsacc.nl/ottens/conceptart-startrek.h tml
At least half of that DVD's value is in the Elvis commentary. Even if you never listen to commentary tracks, give this one a shot. Listening to "Elvis" eat popcorn and keep saying "What the hell kinda picture is this?" is worth the rental.
-Peter
You sig currently reads:
'When I had a sig critical of John Kerry, suddenly I was repeatedly modded down as "Troll" and "Overrated."'
Dude, newsflash for ya. You "suddenly" got modded down as "Troll" and "Overrated" because most of what you post is overrated and/or troll material. And that's not even considering the fact that putting inflammatory material in your sig is a classic trolling technique.
I call bullshit.
Solo was on Tatooine because he was going to pay Jabba off. He told Greedo that he had the money. That's how Luke and Han met. Otherwise, how would a farmer's kid on a backwater planet have ever met up with Solo? So Jabba couldn't have been on another planet. We return to Tatooine because many of the people central to the story are from there or met there.
Don't forget the Viewmaster edition, and the film-strip version.
(The original idea, I think, was to replace the actor standing in for Jabba with a puppet shot on a blue screen.)
I call crap. If they wanted to replace the fat guy in fur with a puppet in 1976/1977 they would have had to do the scene with green/blue-screen or rear projection. (Watch the Rancor scene in RotJ) In 1977 there would have been absolutely no way to replace that actor in that scene as it was shot. (With all the interacting with and walking behind Harrison Ford) And why on earth would there be need for the fur costume?
No, that fur guy was planned as Jabba. Time constraints called for cuts and a Jabba that doesn't show up is somewhat more sinister anyway. Hitchcock taught us that what isn't shown in movies can be the most menacing.
However, after it became apparent that they couldn't do that scene with current technology, they moved all the information learned in that scene to the scene with Greedo.
So, yes, the scene is totally redundant and looked wrong (because it was originally designed around a different Jabba) as shot. This is why the 1997 version had Han Solo step on Jabbas tail - Harrison Ford walked around the stand-in in the original shot, before they really knew what Jabba would look like.
If they really had planned to replace the irish fur guy they would have needed to film Han (foreground), Jabba (middle) and the Falcon (background) seperately. Which they didn't. Which proves they never wanted to replace the irish fur model. And it would have looked shitty anyway. And it still wouldn't make sense to give a standin a costume.
I can't really find any good links on it, [...]
Because it's not true.
Link to pic of how the scene looked when shot:
http://www.exn.ca/news/images/1997/02/06/19970206- before.jpg
Why use a costume for a stand-in who is supposed to replaced by some speacial effect gimmick?
Don't forget that the laserdiscs come in PAL editions as well as NTSC!
A latent existence
http://www.users.qwest.net/~mrp8587/VaderLucas2.jp g
...except that Episode 3 is being directed by Lucas himself, who was personally responsible for the shit that was Episodes 1 & 2. And if you're waiting for another "Empire Strikes Back", don't - Lucas didn't direct that one, which is at least partially why it remains the best of the series.
Lucas had a great idea in Star Wars, but he is not a great director. He can't cast, he can't direct, and he shouldn't be taken seriously as a director. (Just like M. Night Shyamalan)
I haven't even seen the DVD yet (saw it at the theater) will have to do that.
Foo?
How about:
You're a sucker for buying this peice of shit at all!
You're getting awefully worked up about this... I spent CDN45 on this box set, that's $10/movie + extras. Seems like a good deal to me, as far a nice releases of old movies go, and I don't think it's a piece of shit. You'll easily spend that much money on an average Criterion Collection release. Now, the relative merits of each are arguable, and a matter of taste. Just relax, it's not even your money.
"Hot lesbian witches! It's fucking genius!"