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Star Wars Films In 3D Due In 2012
bowman9991 writes "Star Wars creator George Lucas is converting all six films from his iconic science fiction saga into 3D and will re-release them in theatres in 2012. 'Episode I: The Phantom Menace' will be released first."
I have a very bad feeling about this.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
The first 3 sucked
Money Grab. Sigh.
Fugga Wugga
So now Amidala's frozen nipples on Tatooine really will put somebody's eye out?
"Common sense will be the death of us all"
Fuck you, George Lucas. Fuck you.
"Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality." -- Dalai Lama
As if the prequel films didn't ALREADY cause massive headaches...
Its A Trap!
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All you haters are just jealous that you don't have your own multi-billion dollar franchise to rape over and over and over and over and over and over again
What if we just didn't go? Seriously. Don't go. Just don't. Don't do it.
INSTEAD, go to the movies that weekend, but SEE SOMETHING ELSE. Don't punish the theater owners by withholding business, but show Lucas that he is done fisting our childhoods.
Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel. -
The first two are still very good when viewed as vintage films (which they are). But splicing in CGI here and there (and, I predict, adding 3d) makes them uneven and a pushes them into areas where they can't compete against contemporary films.
Oh, I don't know. It sounds somewhat promising.
Maybe the plots and characters will actually have some depth in these new versions!
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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I guess Lucas got tired of people saying his films lack depth and are filled with flat, two-dimensional characters.
Wouldn't that be Jar Jar Jar Binks now?
Table-ized A.I.
It's logical. In 2d it sucked to the second power. Now it will suck to the third.
It seems to me if somethign wasn't shot in 3D, the conversion is going to be very bad. To the extent 3D works for movies at all, it is in situations like Avatar where it was shot entirely for 3D and more or less the move just has depth. It kinda looks like there's a hole in the wall of the theater, rather than a screen. Ok, fine. However if the movie wasn't shot in 3D, you can't do that. You can't capture that depth data you don't already have. So what does that mean? It means cheesy effects. Means most of the movie will be 2D with some really noticeable, and annoying, moments when somethign pops out of the screen at you.
While I'm not a fan of this 3D trend overall and I think it'll be a passing fad, I'm ok with movies properly shot for 3D. At least then it can gain something, it isn't a gimmick, just a way to try and make things more interesting. However I really don't like 3D when it is stupid and gimmicky, the "Hey look! This is in 3D! Are you not amazed?" No, I'm not, knock it off.
Unfortunately I have to imagine that is what this will be since I can't see any way of making it anything else. The original films were shot with only one camera, there just isn't the stereoscopic data there.
By the way, if you haven't seen the Red Letter Media Star Wars reviews yet, shame on you. At the least, set aside an hour and watch the Phantom Menace review. He goes above and beyond a normal video review (Menace is an hour, Clones is almost 90 minutes) explaining exactly why the movies fail so horribly.
The Star Trek movie reviews are also fantastic -- even better than the Star Wars ones, I think. Funny as hell, dead on the mark, and well worth the time to watch them.
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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But I do want to see a 3D Carrie Fisher in her slave girl gold bikini.
Seriously...is there any other film franchise out there that blatantly squeezes more money out of its fans? I myself am not a real Star Wars fan, but even I'm disgusted at the constant re-releases / special editions / extra special editions with 23 extra seconds of never before seen footage. The VHS/DVD/BluRay upgrade cycle for the exact same movie is bad enough. I mean, I know the fans who keep buying into this shit are the ultimate ones to blame...but who do you hate more...the crackhead or the asshole dealer that will do anything to enable and string out the addict until there's nothing left?
Star Wars isn't alone. Lord of the Rings has something like a dozen editions. Blade Runner has so many director's cuts, I've decided Ridley Scott must be schizophrenic. Even Memento has a version where it tells the story chronological order. I don't know why I bought three copies.
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Maybe the new editions of episodes 1-3 won't suck?
how the hell do you turn a fully 2d primary source into 3d? and 3d that doesn't make you want to scream 'FAKE!'...
if anyone can post a link in reply to my post showing that from a single 2d image source a 3d image can be created that doesn't look a bit wonky i'll stfu. sure, piece of cake converting all that 3d graphics to stereoscopic, but, and maybe i am not understanding the filming process with that expensive 70mm cinema type film, but there is definitely only one 'good' copy of all the shots in 2d, there isn't inadvertently gonna suddenly be a second one... i mean, i would guess you could work on something if there was a second cam recording at the same time at a slightly different but convergent view, but really, you'd have to have one on each side, that could give you a volume model that could let you do the 3d but even still... i call bullshit on converting star wars to 3d. i don't see how it could be done. i'd love to know how such a thing could be done. 3d won't work if you can't flesh out the occluded parts that you see to the left and right of the 2d original.
Noooooooooooooooo!!!
Yes, yes I know you were being ironic.
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
You do realize that the chronological version of Memento came with regular version as a "special feature", right? Hardly a Lucas style moneygrab. I don't know why you bought three copies either...
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I think this is the first article about 2012 I've read that actually makes the Mayan apocalypse predictions sound appealing. Here's hoping the calendar runs out before Lucas's patience does...
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It is something new, so people are intrigued. However will it have staying power? My guess is no. 3D movies with glasses is not a new idea. It has been tried twice before that I'm aware of, and was a failure in both cases (outside of a few specialist theaters). I don't think it is going to be here to stay.
but who do you hate more...the crackhead or the asshole dealer that will do anything to enable and string out the addict until there's nothing left?
I think the correct SW line would be: who's more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?
William Shatner, is that, you ?
Hey, Avatar was a decent movie, i intentionally stayed away from all the hype as to not spoil my expectations, and hey, it worked, i liked it.
Sure, it's not the most original story, but it works, it's a family movie.
However, i did watch it in plain 2D cinema, i'm not buying into the stereoscopic shit.
I agree, I don't think the older 3 Star Wars films stand up as modern sci-fi because they feel small (due to the lack of CGI)
I disagree, the effects of those are not dated enough to distract from the story.
But, hey, you can watch Avatar if CGI is your thing.
SEE STAR WARS RELEASED AS ITS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE IN HOLODECK CINAMEGA! EXPERIENCE THE ACTION!
Wait, that might actually be cool...
Star Wars in a holodeck?
Hmm.. yeah, at least you could punch Jar Jar in his face.
This is not the line that you are looking for.
*handwave*
Probably kept forgetting where he put them!
The conversion process is basically the computational equivalent of vacuum forming the 2D image over a depth map. Depending on the fidelity of the models that generate the depth map, the effect will vary between passable and looking like cardboard cutouts in a diorama.
From a technical point of view it will be interesting to see how Lucasfilm deal with the conversion. I think the conversion will be abysmal in the first 3 movies with lots of crappy dust & particle effects tossed in and some reshot CG. Potentially the 3D could be more passable on the prequels depending on how far they go. Most of the prequel scenes are pure CG or composite live action and CG so in theory all these scenes could be rerendered. I think in practice though that probably only a fraction will get the full treatment and the remainder will under go a 2D + depth map process.
Yes, yes I know you were being ironic.
Oh no, let's not start the irony posts again!! AAAAUUUUUGGGGHHH!!!!!!
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~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
Must have been the 3D goggles. They obviously did nothing.
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Yes I am sure you would hate that, just like rain on your wedding day...
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I can just imagine the email to marketting now From : g.lucas@hotmail.com
Subject : Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: I have a great idea, we could re-release Star Wars!
Hey guys I have another idea to follow up the 3d release for star wars, this time we could replace Chewbacca with CGI similar to Jar Jar Binx! Then we could creature future releases that replace other characters and the space scenes, remember we also have over a thousand hours of unseen footage left to dribble into future releases; also you know the bit where Leia strangles Jabba? That seems a bit cruel and violent, maybe we should super impose a blaster into Jabbas hand and have him shoot at her first so it seems more like a defensive strangling?
You'd better get used to it. Soon there will be "Casablanca in 3D" and so on... It could even reach the first feature film of the Lumiere bros. "The arrival of a train to the station, now in atonishing 3D and Technicolor".
Well, in hindsight, squeezing additional money after a film's release is kind of the whole George Lucas "hallmark". It's really his "trump card" he played back when Star Wars was first released, which made him the man who beat Hollywood at their own game.
(He was the first to realize there was a potential fortune in marketing toys based on the movie characters, so got himself rights to any/all of those profits as part of his movie contract. Hollywood, at the time, didn't think that was important so they ignored that clause while trying to screw him in the usual ways,)
I've never really agreed with his premise that movies are always "unfinished projects" you can go back and revise at will, though. IMO, you're supposed to give your best effort and consider it a one-shot opportunity. When the final product comes out in the theater, it's "finished", for better or for worse. Yes, someone else can do a "remake" later, if they so desire. But remakes are other people's interpretations of the story ... not the ORIGINAL producer deciding to revise it.
When it comes to the Star Wars saga though? Enough time has passed so you've got whole new generations of kids wanting to buy/watch it, and inevitably, some of them will buy whatever the latest edition is on store shelves, vs. going to extra effort to obtain the "original" versions. So yeah, some profits will always be there -- but it's just an annoyance to people like me.
"Luke I am your father. Now I am standing closer. Now I am farther away. Now I am closer ..."
[Insert pithy quote here]
What might not be obvious at first is that it's a caricature named Mr. Plinkett. It's supposed to be a slovenly old man who borders on senile and psychotic. They do this to add some additional humor and characterization to the reviews, otherwise you're basically going to be listening to some nasally nerd nitpicking details. It takes a little getting used to but if you've only watched five minutes I encourage you to give it another shot with the knowledge that the voice is satire.
That said, the Star Wars reviews do suffer a little bit from a skit-based "subplot" wherein the Plinkett character has kidnapped a hooker and kept her in the basement. We think he's going to kill her but instead he shows her the prequels as torture. It's supposed to be funny but it's mostly cringeworthy. His Star Trek reviews don't have any of this and I think they're the better for it.
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Free Martian Whores!
I actually preferred the older effects, sets and model work to the shiny CGI in the prequels. The latter films looked too clean and artificial. The used, worn, slightly badly fitting look of everything in the original trilogy made it a lot more believable to me.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
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Come on all 3d movies suck royally. The illusion breaks down constantly, and reminds you about 5 times per minute that "hey you're watching a 3d movie!!"
The illusion breaks down at the edge of the screen, especially when an image that is supposed to be in front of the plane of the screen intersects with the edge.
The illusion breaks down when you get that choppiness from panning or from an object moving quickly from side to side.
The illusion breaks down every time there is a bright consistent background (like sky) and the screen itself becomes visible as an unmoving texture right in the middle of the depth of field.
The illusion breaks down whenever something is too close and your eyes have to strain because the focal distance is still the distance of the screen but your eyes are crossed looking at something that appears to be in the next row forward.
I hate 3d movies. I think they absolutely ruin the movie going experience so I am completely unsurprised that Lucas is going to do this to the Star Wars films.
Lets do the Mona Lisa in 3d, and howabout Starry Night.
-- QED
The only thing missing is his reviews of Episodes 4, 5 and 6
From a film perspective, they were fairly well presented. I think you are assuming that his critique is a nerdrage, which it is not.
He does evaluate 4,5,6 in one point as to showcase one of the failures of episode 1. Primarily he goes into the details of the danger of splitting the plot/story into multiple lines and trying to keep it coherent for an audience viewing it for the first time.
In short, he shows that 4's ending worked VERY well because you had all plots converge into one single ending (Yavin), then 5 had 2 plots going on, and 6 had 3 (Luke line, endor surface, space battle)
It showed a progression from a clear concise story in which everything split for a reason, and came back together for a reason, as opposed to Episode 1's approach of 'Everyone split up and go do your thing!"
He presents it in a much better way than I can.
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Enjoy over-stating things, do we? Blade Runner has 3 versions and an unofficial workprint
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Versions there are a few more.
I always expected Harrison Ford to show up in one of the prequels playing Han Solo's grandfather. I'm not sure whether the idea excited or terrified me. But in general I got sick of Lucas sticking in every single possible connection between the two trilogies he could think of.