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Rumoured DVD Release of Episode One in April, 2000
danimal wrote with news for the Star Wars buffs: From the NewsAskew site
comes the tidbit that
Star Wars Episode I DVD will be coming out in April of 2000. It's a tip from an anonymous source, but the official announcement is supposed to be coming Jan. 4 from the Lucas man himself. The announcement is midway down the NewsAskew page.
Best movie!!! I'm glad I'm getting a DVD drive for christmas!
I wonder what the special features for the DVD will have.
Didn't lucas say he was going to wait until all three were released to release them on DVD? Either way, lucas is pretty mysterious, and unpredicatable.
And the plans to release The originals on DVD are? I would really like to watch Star Wars without worrying about destroying it.
--WooooHoooo--
that's right, when can we expect the trilogy to be released on dvd? i'd much rather prefer than. but then again, this is a start.
-
This Post has been brought to you by the letter "E".
Now I can prove that there are ETs in the senate scene. And I'll be able to look for all of the other add-ins. I wonder if there are anything like the backwards bounty hunters. An excellent movie to watch in slow motion during those large crowd scenes.
marotti.com
I work in a fairly high-level position with a large video retailer, and all the major retail chains have been notified by Fox on Monday/Tuesday that it will be released on VHS only on 4/4/00 - with a Widescreen edition only being available as part of a Star Wars Gift Pack. DVD? Lucas says "no way" until there are *at least* 10 million DVD players in consumer's homes in the U.S. What's the current date Fox is quoting? 2006.
OK. The DVD of Star Wars: Episode One is coming out...woohoo. (sarcasm.) I'm not really sure, but I may be the one person in america who DIDN'T see the blasted movie. Everyone who I talked to about it said the thing sucked, so I decided not to waste my time. Is this really something slashdot needs to be posting? "A rumored DVD release of something that got bad reviews will be out around 4 months from now." I mean, I could at least tolerate if it were the official announcement, but this is just rumors.
Here comes the flames, and there goes my karma.
I know it's probably against geek rules, but I simply can't see what makes this news. The movie was mediocre at best, violating principles previously put forth in the original movies left and right. Hello, midichlorians!? I know that someone else must have seen through Lucas' pathetic, yet successful, quest for more cash.
Pathetic movie. This news item should have been a mere footnote, if that.
- A.P.
--
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
This is a critical time for DVD. With the recent encryption hack and other bad press, it remains to be seen if DVD will finally and truly become the mainstream digital home movie format. People will buy DVD players simply to get the Star Wars series, and the more DVD players there are out there, the less likely the industry will be to turn away.
:-).
:-(
I for one hope DVD doesn't die. And I'm not just saying that because I expect to get a DVD player for my birthday and/or Christmas
I didn't read the story, but I can imagine that the DVD edition of Episode One will contain all kinds of goodies. And when the Original Series comes out... I hope you can get both the original and special edition, but I doubt that.
No sig.
It was rumored that all three Indy films would be out by next April. Is this still the case?
I'd rather see those remastered, letterboxed, and supplemented before I go out and pick up TPM.
"Those people are trying to kill us!" "I know, Dad!" "Well, it's a new experience for me." "Happens to me all the time..."
I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
i heard this morning on TV and radio that ONLY the VHS tape will be available April 2000, there will be no DVD for SWTPM at all!
--
http://www.beroute.tzo.com
"Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
The significance of this 'leakage' is lost on me entirely. Just about everyone was disappointed by the movie, and now we're supposed to leap up and cheer that it's being released on dvd? Oh, the sheer joy. I can revel in the clumsy story line and horrendous dialog again and again and again! I can even MEMORIZE lines of hideous dialog to IMPRESS MY FRIENDS! That'll be EXCELLENT! I can pick out continuity mistakes and memorize those too as TRIVIA! KEWL! By fawning over the credits, I can trace the familial lineage of the BEST BOY and all the KEY GRIPS! HEY! I can PAUSE the film at any moment and act out seens myself with my vast army of COLLECTIBLE ACTION FIGURES, while guzzling TAB and VODKA out of my VINTAGE BOBA FETT SLURPY CUP!!!
Sorry. That last bit was uncalled for. I apologize.
**>>BELCH
Yeah, but then again, you've got to deal with the crappy logo in the corner, the bad picture quality, and the crappy audio... unless whoever recorded it... could record THX. I think the DVD is a little better. =P
Me too.
- A.P.
--
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
If they can make use of the multiple angles and soundtracks to allow the movie to be shown with Jar-Jar turned off I'll buy it. Episode One was ok, but it had enough annoying bits that I wouldn't want to watch it over and over. There's no point in buying the DVD, but I might rent it once.
Uhm, I don't know what the hell your talking about but... this hasn't been released yet.. and what the hell.. 5 Different DVD's of one movie.. it seems like your being sarcastic... but it really doesn't make sense.
Maybe he'll start things out with a few cartoons, like the old days, and then a news reel or something, and maybe a 3 Stooges episode. Now THAT would be cool, and would help take the sting out of the shocking dismality (gnu word!) of the feature picture. Maybe they could make the 3 stooges episode interactive, and we could have Moe pimp-slap Jar Jar while Curly ruins the Meeting of the Jedi Masters with an extended warbling shuffle on the meeting room floor. Larry can go to the NPortman character and say, "Aw gee, what a DOLL! Gimme a kiss, willya?" At which point she slaps him and tears out a fist full of hair.
(belch) Excuse me.
**>>BELCH
Who cares? Linux gets bad reviews all the time. I'm sure you wouldn't mind reading about some rumored release of some new Linux software.
PEACE
_________________________
Mello like the Yello, but without the fizz.
_______
I just wish I could c:\format Internet
This could be the early start of a bad April Fools joke. Maybe?
Looks like they do to me...
..all 6 episodes are out. Lucas himself said that he will not be releasing them on DVD until he can present a complete 6 episode arc.
-Andrei
I agree that DVD is waaay better then VHS, and my DVD library is already nicely stocked. But what will happen to it when HDTV rolls around?
Doesn't HDTV have a higher quality than the current dvd movie format?
A: Will there be another new media for movies, which will force us to ditch our dvd player?
or B: Aren't DVD movies just Mpeg2 encoded data? Which could just have the resolution scaled up to hdtv quality (perportional to size, and cpu usage, IIRC).
I'm just curious about the subject because I've been kinda reluctant to buy a lot of movies for the fear that this will just be another technology that goes the way of the Dodo in a few years.
-nick
"by doing just a little each day, I can gradually let the task overwhelm me."
Yeah, probably VHS, like was mentioned in a previous post but I've heard/read from numerous sources that we won't be seeing *any* of the Star Wars films on DVD until the whole collection (Eps: 1-6) are complete.
Now, that is assuming someone doesn't decide to swipe a roll of film and burn a few copies to DVD.
Marketing, ya gotta love it!
-Vel
I think more to the point would be: Unless whoever watches the movie has a THX theatre, I think both versions would be about the same.
THX is a specification for movie theatres, not a digital sound format.
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
Sigh...um, yes, I know that. And have you ever watched the video version of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?" Check out the scene with Indy letting his father know where to begin the search for the Grail. You're supposed to be seeing them side-by-side, but the transfer cuts between their faces. The movie is widescreen, the transfer is what's not.
Be that as it may, you are correct about me being fucking brilliant. Now convince my employer in time for my next review....
I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
You might be waiting awhile for PPV. I heard, about a month after the movie came out, that it would hit network television first since Fox owns a network channel.
George Lucas said himself, Star Wars was done for kids. From what I've heard, lots of kids loved the movie and Jar Jar (I personally think he's worse than an Ewok). Jar Jar was designed for kids and kids love him.
I don't think Mr. Lucas is stuck in a rut. When he created Star Wars, he did it to give kids a modern myth since there weren't any. TPM is the beginning of the story and we still have two more episodes to see before we get the whole story. I hear people complain about the lack of closure and how they didn't like it. Well, the first one had to have closure because he didn't know if he'd be able to make the next two after that. This one didn't need closure because the next two were already going to be made.
You say a movie doesn't have to have special effects to wow us. I don't believe you. If you take the special effects out of every movie made in the last 5 years, I think you'll have some pretty boring movies.
There is more information about Phantom Menace release here
I'm sure you saw a few of the vcds that were floating around the net. If they happen to be on dvd (in asia, probably) they would be really poor quality. I did see one of the screeners that was pretty comparable to vhs.
Ever since DVD has come out, some "person in the know" on USENET has popped up and said "Star Wars in three months!" Then they go on and on about "a warehouse full of boxes" or "their dear, dear friend at Skywalker Ranch said it was so" or some other bunk.
Every time they have said it, it ain't true. I will bet all 51 of my karma points that it ain't true this time either.
It saddens me to think that anything controversial will be labled as a troll if some moderator disagrees with their opinion.
/. will be a mild little place where only the common opinions will be supported. We could loose some thought provoking opinions if we keep punishing people for having a different opinions.
Trolls are for first posts, not opinion pieces, as you said. If this keeps up
this sounds like a good setup for an april fools hoax to me.
JB
"You never know when some crazed rodent with cold feet might be running loose in your pants."
-Calvin
You obviously haven't read the book. That is why the Queen's face is usually covered with white makeup, so that she can dress as a handmaiden and not be noticed. The audience knew because we are supposed to know. Qui-Gon didn't know because he has only ever seen the Queen in white makeup so he couldn't tell by looking at her (although that doesn't explain why he couldn't tell through the Force, unless he wasn't trying).
I agree with you about the lightsaber though. Even though it was used offensively, it seemed to be more suited as a defensive weapon than anything else.
Now all that's left is to borrow the $70 for a DVD drive, but even if the software existed to play back DVDs in Linux I would buy Titanic before Star Wars.
I hope it's 2.35:1 scope anamorphic, I'd hate to see such a widely-regarded release suffer from a bad transfer and formatting.
--------
Oscarfish.com: tropical fish with attitude. Way t
And it'll be the Jar Jar-free version!
Place your orders!!
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
Why was Episode I shitty? Oh well... (cracking knuckles)
There was no STORY! Lucas writing a long sequence of scenes, loosely tying them together (sometimes not), and masking the whole thing with dazzling visuals, and calling _that_ a movie was insulting to the general audience. Eyecandy, yes. Entertaining, maybe. Good story, hardly! I don't care if he says 'Episode I' was geared for children, they still deserve a good story!
Talking about children, I despised Lucas' way of handling "war" in Episode I. Showing children that war is fun, that funny things happen constantly in war, and that wars are won with comic accidents shows that Lucas is totally out of touch with reality. I'm not saying there should've been blood and gore, but giving us one line of "isa therea peoplea gonna diea?" to portray the horror of war is not enough.
And acting! Or rather the lack of it. Nobody, _nobody_ did even a decent job of acting in the movie. And I'm not talking about Jar Jar; I think the CGI programmers actually did the best job of "acting" in the movie. The sad thing is that the movie was filled with good actors and actresses: Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson etc. I don't know what the reason for this was, but my speculation is that maybe the actors had trouble relating to green screens. Or maybe Lucas was too restricting in his directing...
George Lucas hasn't directed a feature movie in more than twenty years, and it shows. It seems like he was too totalitarian in his effort. According to the 'Making of's I've seen, he was involved in every single aspect of the movie, starting from the design of the aliens and space ships down to the musical score. This might have been great for a small budget movie like the original 'Star Wars', but when were talking about 100+ million dollar budget, he is just in the way, and restricts the creativity and distracts himself and the people who do this stuff for living. It looks like him being busy with all kinds of stuff that is not his stuff kept him too busy with writing a good story! Or writing a story at all. The movie suffered from a desperate attempt to lay the groundwork for the next five (eight?) movies. Not an easy job obviously, but if you can't handle something, why do it alone?
George Lucas really disappointed me with this one. I kinda liked episodes 4-6, but this was a real flop in every sense of the word, except financially. I went to see it in the theater just for the incredible truel, the choreography by stunt co-ordinator/swordmaster Nick Gillard was just out of this world. It was like totally, awesome! Made my balls itch!
If Lucas does not come up with a good story for the next two episodes, I will not ruin a perfectly good two hours, which I would be better off doing something more productive. Like sleeping. That of course only in the case Natalie Portman will not be in the next episodes!
MotorMachineMercenary
--
Hey, shit is good! One billion trillion flies can't be wrong! -MMM
"We have an A-Bomb...what more do you want, mermaids?" --I.I. Rabi, speaking in defense of Robert Oppenheimer
By the time all of this happens, DVD will be standard, and VHS old news like 8-Track tape.
--Bahamlabs
If you really think Luke didn't win that lightsaber fight, you are dillusional. Vader had lost, the only reason Luke didn't kill him is because he would've turned to the Dark Side if he had.
Darth Maul was very skilled. If you read the book, you find out that when Obi-Wan went back to the Jedi Council, they tell him that he shouldn't have been able to kill Maul and that he should be dead. That is when they decide that he is ready and they make him a master and give him Anakin as his apprentice.
Also, the first movie was only cryptic because you didn't know anything about the Star Wars universe at all. This one's a little more blatant because you already know some things. It was also done to give people a way to tie it in with the originals. I've heard that the next two won't be so blatant since they've tied everything in and introduced all the main characters so they're going to concentrate more on continuing the story.
The 'significance' is that instead of waiting until about 2004 like he first said, we could see it now in a few months. For the large number of Star Wars fans out there, this is significant.
I wonder if a LaserDisc edition would be released. With the good 'ol Pioneer LD/DVD player I enjoy the best of both worlds and new LD titles are still being released! Star Wars 4,5,&6 are still best viewed on LD. Why not release it on LD?!?!?! I'd buy it.
Now here's a really serious question, if/when Lucas comes out with the original trilogy on DVD, should he release the digitally enhanced versions or the original versions as they were shown in theaters? I go for the "as they were shown in theaters originally" versions, but that's because of personal nostalgia. what does everyone else think?
Funny, this was on lugnet today. When Lucas rereleased Ep IV, he made Greedo shoot first at Han, rather than Han shoot Greedo unexpectedly.
That sucks, it weakens Han's character and makes his personality change less interesting.
What's next, let the Death Star shoot first to be sporting?
(Most of this shamelessly lifted from Lugnet).
George
A week after I saw The phantom menace here, they had it in the mall, in mulitple formats, Japanese, English, English with Japanese subtitles, all of which varied in quality, one was of at least VHS quality though... most sucked though. Funny to go into a mall with signs all over the place for a movie that hadn't opened yet (at least it hadn't there) and then be able to watch the movie in front of the store upstairs. Then watch them shut down all of the shops when the cops came around...
seibed
In the special DVD edition they include the scene where everyone: darth maul, palpatine, anakin, r2, etc takes turns killing jar jar binks! Now that I've got to see
---
Ha! I didn't see ep1 or Titanic.
...will work for Chick tracts...
p.s. I thought the coolest thing to do for special edition would be to add in some good cursing that would have been too much for the original.
ex. Luke (after blowing up death star) "May the force fscking be with you!"
Jack Valenti and the MPAA are to technology as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone
the new one was terrible. When will the original movies be on DVD?
It looks big. It tastes really candy sweet. But when eating it, you realize it is just a lot of fluff and air, and you are left still feeling hungry afterwards.
Throw in an annoying horse-tooth jackass CGI character and you've got yourself TPM!
--
PanDuh!
Buy 'em on LaserDisc! :) I'll be in luck.
I don't have an LD player (yet) but I'll be damned if I ever watch those friggin' "Special Edition" of the Star Wars Trilogy ever again.
eBay has lots of LD players for sale, so when I pay off the XMas VISA bill
Oh, BTW the place I ordered the 3 LD's from, had them for $8 a piece, or $23 (US) when you ordered the whole batch! Even with shipping and currency exchange to CAN$, I still came out ahead of getting them here, that is if I could find them anywhere.
Pope
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
--
PanDuh!
--
PanDuh!
No, THX is not just a theater specification. I would suggest checking out http://www.thx.com at the "Consumer Products" section. THX is just a standard, and if products live up to that standard (whatever it is), then they are "THX certified".
Lucas has always said that the movies, books, and radio dramas of Episodes 1-6 are considered authoritative. All other books after 6 and before 1 are not and he has said many times that if he does something inconsistent with them, that his part is true and the book is rendered false. The only book to break this rule is Shadows of the Emire, which he said specifically is canon. So I'd say the novelization of Ep 1 is pretty authoritative in his eyes.
(DVD_ripper + lots_of_hard_drive + editing_software) = no_more_Jar_Jar
Although the earlier response of "retard" is pretty close to the mark, one may want to read the article series, The THX Factor, that was posted a while back at dvdfile.com ...
You people complain and complain about the movie and everything, but you all know you'll go buy the VHS when it comes out, the DVD too, and you'll go see the next two. If you really thought it was that bad, you wouldn't care about the DVD or the VHS. Unfortunately, most of you don't know how to go to a movie and become a kid again. You go see a movie and keep in your 18+ mentallity. If you want to enjoy Star Wars, you have to think like a kid. I don't hear anybody here complaining about how lightsabers aren't possibly and the fact that there is no sound in space. You all make me sick.
Okay, still offtopic. THX is not something that is typically assigned to the media, but rather what reproduces what is on that media (speakers, amplifier, DVD/LD player etc) -- so therefore, transferring a film to a dvd typically hasn't been called "THX Certified"....
:)
and to be really nitpicky, THX can be any kind of "Theatre" specification.
Karnal
Baloney!
There are lots of "Kids" movies out there that don't insult the intellegence of adult watchers.
Anything by PIXAR springs to mind.
As for "lightsabers aren't possible," that is the essence of good fiction, right?
There's a certain amount of 'suspension of disbelief' that happend with any good work of fiction, regardless of genre. What gets tricky is when that gets compromised by ridiculous plot points and illogical character actions, both of which TPM had in spades. "Star Wars" was a great afternoon popcorn matinee kind of flick, but had a simple plot, engaging characters, and good action when needed. It created a whole universe in one big gulp that was easy to take and made sense within its INNER logic. TPM introduced a lot of hocus pocus "plot" and a kid-aimed character, Jar Jar, whose comic antics grated on the majority of adults in the audience.
Have you seen Toy Story 1 or 2? There's an awful log of comic action WITHOUT any annoying characters. Are you going to tell me that I can't enjoy Toy Story because toys don't really come to life when I'm not around?
Pope
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
ahem.
DVD players could be "THX Certified"... but the DVD's in and of themselves aren't.
Of course, if the DV disc was cert'd, you'd gain nothing by playing in non-cert'd equipment... but that's not the point.
Karnal
Actually, you are completely wrong about special effects. If anything, some of the most special-effects intensive movies, such as Episode I and the Jurassic Park films, have been the worst of the bunch. The most interesting movies over the past 5 years haven't had this same sort of dependence. Vacuous special-effects-intensive movies have become something of a cliche.
It's not that Lucas is stuck in a rut, it's that he has simply realized what the necessary lowest energy state is for the purpose of producing "good movies" these days. Back before he had figured this out, the movies had interesting characters and a plot. 20 years later, he's realized that these things really aren't that necessary, especially if you're trying to attract little kids.
(as an aside regarding the "it was for kids" claim, read the May '99 issue of Wired with Lucas on the cover... he talks about how the movie was all about his desire to tell stories and create myths... he doesn't mention the "it was for kids" thing until _after_ the backlash started)
-Dean
I was at J&R in NYC last week picking up (at last!) The Wall on DVD.. Someone had scrawled on the upcoming releases board 'Star Wars - 2006?' I think this sums it up very well.
yes, and...?
The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you've got it made. (Marx)
...especially if you leave out all of the 'making of' and other trailers and such. If you included BOTH SE and the originals on a DVD, you could put the extra crap on a separate DVD (4 DVD SET! Now only $89.95).
Of course, in doing that George couldn't make 2x+ the profits from selling them as separate entities (and boxed sets).
der dee der.
You know, one thing I never understand is why no one holds movies to the same standards of books when it comes to story-telling. Why is the universal reply to a complaint about TPM, "it's just a movie" ?
One of my labmates theorizes that this is because some people are still amazed by the miracle that the pictures actually move.
-Dean
Looking at the release schedules of the first three SW films, it is hard to imagine Lucas passing up all that revenue by prematurely releasing Ep. 1 on DVD.
All three of the first movies were released on VHS in a timely fashion. Everyone rushed out to buy them. Then a few years ago, they were released again, with new cover art, slightly remastered (if I recall correctly), and with interviews of Lucas. Everyone rushed out to buy them.
Soon after, they were completely remastered and released in the theatres. Everyone rushed out to see them. The completely remastered versions were then released to video. Everyone rushed out to buy them.
Episode 1 was then released in the theatres. Everyone rushed out to see it.
Fast forward to the future. Lucas releases Episode 1 on VHS. Everyone rushes out to buy it. Lucas then waits a year or more to release the original trilogy on DVD. Everyone rushes out to buy them.
At some point, Episode 1 will be released to DVD...but I wouldn't count on that being anytime soon. Lucas is all about the money folks. He knows he has a huge fan base for the Star Wars movie series that will buy anything he puts out. How do you make the really big money from that? You make those folks pay for the same damn thing over and over again.
It's brilliant.
I'm rather certain that Ben-Hur was longer then three hours.
And if you think that movies should only be eye candy, you obviously haven't watched many movies that haven't been made in Hollywood.
Shawn Poulsen (Fruan)
"On Slashdot, many obvious things are insightful." - Annonymous Coward, 2000/7/9
First of all: Do you think that just because a movie is geared towards adolescents and teens it is OK for it to be resoundingly stupid?
Here are just *some* movies and TV shows made for teens and kids that *aren't* stupid:
1.) Iron Giant
2.) Toy Story, Toy Story 2
3.) Tarzan
4.) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
5.) Batman TV Series
6.) Superman TV Series
7.) Beast Wars/Beast Machines
8.) DragonBall Z
9.) X-Men
10.) Gargoyles (great, now defunct, series)
etc..etc.. I am sure there are a ton of them out there.
Second of all:
Would you like to explain the entire plot of TPM for me, huh? Why don't you try, and then tell me that its a movie made for kids. Also, don't tell me that slicing someone in half with a light sabre is also kids-oriented material.
--
PanDuh!
Neither are a lot of movies. Doesn't mean they are stupid.
2. There are 2 options when depicting war. One is to show the horror of war ( like lucas' budy speilberg did with private ryan ) or show it from a lighter side. which do you think fit the bill here.
Aaah.. so I guess the Star Wars series is supposed to be more like "F-Troop", and "Beetle Bailey". Well, how the hell am I supposed to argue that?
Precisely.
--
PanDuH!
Yup.. THX is a specification for *equipment*. Not theaters, not encoding.
IE: The equipment you manufacture has to have an excellent S/N Ratio, minimal signal loss through cable resistance, and video dissipation has to be minimal, and the acoutics of the area it is in (for full "THX Quality") needs to be matched to the speakers, etc...
I for one have helped build a full THX certified Home (rather large) theatre system... took months to spec out, and It almost didn't get the little sticker because of the acoustics of the room. They used cheap sheet rock for it. Rich people kick ass... he just said "So replace the walls with the good stuff" and then we went on our way...
I want something like that in my house... but then for what it cost my company to build (and wht was paid) i could buy a small island. Then I'd need a boat, not a tv...
"Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair... Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy was he?"
Yup, I had to do that with my first LD player. (The only reason I got into LD's was the release of the Star Wars: Definitive Collection. AWESOME!!) But you can't do that with a DVD player. You MUST have connections on your TV. DVD, like VHS, employs Macrovision Anti-Copy process, but instead of encoding it on the tape, it has a bit to turn it on in the player embedded on the DVD media. The player supplies the anti-copy signal which wreaks havoc with VCR's automatic gain control, and provides a screwy picture even if you are just using the VCR as a pass-through device. LD's do not employ any anti-copy process, but they conceivably could.
I hope I'm already the Nth person to suggest this (and let the flames come if need be! to hell with karma!) but "news" about this latest "Star Wars" "movie" is totally boring. Let's just all face facts that we got suckered into seeing an over-hyped mediocre flick.
I'd rather see news that the Matrix is already out on DVD and in my living room.
enough.
Can your IM do this?
I'm sorry, but Episode one was a piece of crap. It was a pretty piece of crap, but it was still a piece of crap. To Quote Butthead: "A ploished turd is still a turd, Beavis."
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Check the site again. They apologize for misleading, there will be no DVD release at the same time as the video release.
Myth should hold for everyone, not just kids. Does Greek or Roman mythology aim at kids alone ? Myths are resonant stories and ideas that hold true for everyone, regardless of age.
I think its good that George stuck to his guns and produced the movie he wanted to see. The problem is that he isn't in sync with his audience.
In my mind, Star Wars was a bit of a fluke in that it came out at the right time and captured people's imaginations. Alot of good people worked on Star Wars, yet George claims all the credit.
I think that Ralph MacQuarrie had alot to do with the visual style. His storyboards are dynamic and interesting. True George set the tone but the storyboards are the inspiration.
Empire worked because George took a step back and allowed a talented writer and a talented director run with the ball.
Jedi wasn't nearly as good as George stepped in and override alot of people from what I'm told. Granted its his playpen, however his vision tends to make things bland in aiming for the common denominator or aimed at marketting of some kind.
My thoughts are that kids today are alot more sophisticated and worldly than George thinks.
Essential to any enjoyable movie is a strong story. This usually involves characters and situations that draw you in and maintain your interest in some way.
You don't even have to especially like them.
Where Episode I fails is that its really a number of set pieces loosely tied together by some common characters. There really isn't anything compelling.
The bad guys (Malorians ?) were just too comical to consider a menace. They might have been true to old style serial villains but still.
Each set piece was impressively realised. The pod race and the Jedi duel were terrific but these don't make for a movie you remember 20 years down the track.
The Toy Story movies are a great example of a solid story that kids and adults can enjoy. The writers aren't pandering to kids. The basic plot drives the movie and draws an audience in.
I think your generalising on that last point about taking the special effects out of every movie made in the last 5 years and leaving some boring movies. Just to name a few, Trainspotting, Usual Suspects, Donnie Brasco, Swingers, Boogie Nights, Austin Powers I / II, Toy Story I / II, Bug's Life, Alladin.
Just a few thoughts.
/* Andrew Fong - rogue programmer */
Before he makes any more crappy movies and he we have to hear it about it on Slashdot. The only recent movie I can think of that was more overly hyped, poorly written and woodenly acted was Titanic. Get a life.
Hey, you think your house is cool?
Please, read the book? Prolong the agony?
If you have to read the book to understand the movie then the movie is a failure.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Wasn't his name "PORKINS"!?!?!?
Add more to the laugh!
- "Cover me, Porkins"
- "I'm right with you Red Leader"
In response to "DVD will not support THX", THX will certify DVD players. That's DVD supporting THX.
However, whether THX certification will be awarded to individual discs is another matter. Originally, VHS tapes were NEVER going to be THX-certified: Laserdisc only (specification like CAV only). Then the rules changed. I don't believe it will be long before individual DVD's are certified. Just wait for someone to pay for it.
Also, as far as I can remember, you won't necessarily gain anything by playing a cert'd disc in non THX equipment, but you are guaranteed that it'll be as good quality as you can get through that equipment. Some discs are high quality anyway, but some of my DVDs have terrible sound mixes... THX'ed discs would be good.
If Lucas does indeed release Episode One on DVD, I hope that he will release on VHS on or before the day he releases the DVD version so that us unfortunate people won't have to wait for a VHS version... Come on George! HAVE A HEART!!!
"...and postin me too like some brain at AOL-er" -- Wierd Al
- until [there are] 10 million DVD players in consumer's homes
Me thinks thou doest confuse George Lucas with Robber Baron Bill Gates.Lucas is "one of us" on a grand scale, doing fun stuff that makes lots of money. Not for the sake of "money," so much as for the sake of "fun stuff."
My best Guess: Star Wars will be the Killer App that launches D-DVD as in HIGH DEFINITION TV Disk Players.
Lucas is just waiting for the hardware (good market penetration of Screens and a home D-DVD players available in quantity) to appear.
He may even get paid big bux for it by Sony Phillips etc.
In Nearly All Paradigms, Shift Happens.