DavidMerrick

Please me too!

That was TN1’s grindhouse footage.

Also, he’s Poe fricking Dameron. He’s the Galaxy’s most dashing man. Women love him. Men… also love him.

Yeah, Force Awakens was my favourite movie of 2015 but Fury Road is arguably the more innovative and better-structured movie and it deserved every award it received.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Fury Road hate and mockery from Star Wars-centric accounts on Instagram today and I’m just like “Can’t we have room in our hearts for both of these movies?”

Now I’m remembering my first-ever forum post, made back in 2000 when I was 10, angrily declaring that Phantom Menace should have gotten Best Picture over American Beauty. Ahhh, youth.

They reuse footage from that sequence, or alternate footage, but no way, the SE still opens with him arriving at Death Star II.

Also a potential Finn and Poe romance–one built upon mutual respect, admiration, affection and that sweet, sweet jacket–is much more natural and less off-putting than Han constantly mocking and antagonizing Leia before cornering her in a maintenance closet for the kiss.

If you want a legitimate argument against the pairing, here’s one: as far as I know, neither John Boyega nor Oscar Isaac are gay (Boyega is a practicing, abstinent Christian so I think it would be fairly unlikely for him to swing that way). I would love to see more same-sex and queer relationships in fiction and the two actors in question have fantastic chemistry, but Hollywood already has a bad habit of casting straight actors as gay characters, denying actual LGBT folks acting opportunities. It’s called erasure, wherein the status quo dictates how stories of less represented groups are told, often without said groups’ input or participation. The most notorious example at the moment is straight, cisgender guy Eddie Redmayne up for an Oscar for his portrayal of a gay, transgender woman in The Danish Girl, which is really messed up when you think of it.

Which is not to say I would be against such a relationship in the sequels. In fact, I think there’s a massive net positive to depicting a loving same-gender romance in Star Wars, the same way seeing Rey, Finn and Poe up on the screen in pivotal, heroic roles is already a major self-esteem boost for young girls and black and Latino kids. It would be preferable if they consulted actual gay folks for the writing of that, though.

Additionally, for a supposedly controversy-avoidant franchise, Star Wars has featured villains clearly based on real world monsters, with the Imperial officers just a Swastika armband away from looking exactly like the Nazi high command. The Force Awakens made this analogy even more unavoidable with the clearly Triumph of the Will-inspired scene on Starkiller Base (also “the First Order” is the most neo-Nazi-ass name I’ve ever heard). It also addressed radicalization for the first time in the form of Kylo Ren. It’s very difficult not to look at Ren and his relationship with his parents and think of the young men who’ve joined ISIS, or mass shooters like Elliot Rodger or Dylann Roof.

So if Star Wars can depict touchy and controversial subjects like those above, why not the harmless relationship between two men or two women? Or someone choosing to live as the gender they identify as?

Escapist as Star Wars might be, it is as influenced by ideology as any other work of fiction. The Lord of the Rings has a very concrete environmental message. Die Hard is saying there is a specific way police should use force and handle terrorist scenarios. Batman is about a super-rich white man using his endless funds to make his city a better place (and/or beat up the mentally ill). You can’t tell a story without including some measure of ideology in it. Star Wars is no different.

I’m not gay or transgender but I can guarantee you those who are would hate to see their lifestyles and struggles deemed “too controversial” to be depicted in escapist fantasy.

You know what helps these things to he less controversial? Normalization and representation. Treating people not as taboo subjects to be avoided in polite conversation but as human beings worthy of the same respect and recognition as straight white guy you and me. 40 years ago people would have raised a stink about John Boyega being the lead in an escapist blockbuster film–hell, people raised a stink JUST LAST YEAR–but thanks to Hollywood giving actors like Will Smith and Morgan Freeman a chance Boyega’s casting isn’t controversial, or not nearly as much as it might have been.

Avoiding “controversial” subjects in mainstream entertainment only continues to ostracized the oppressed and maintain the status quo. With The Force Awakens, Star Wars is now a relatively progressive franchise for the first time in its existence (even more so than Star Trek) and it would be great to see it keep going down this path with sensitivity and care.

Handman said:

I just see no reason for it in Star Wars. It’s pandering.

Star Wars has been primarily straight white guys since 1977. Seems like that’s the demographic it’s been pandering to.

Ehhhh, now that TN1 has disbanded I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Thank you for being so up front and on the level, Williarob. I feel bad that you got dragged into this unawares.

God if Finn and Poe hooked up it would be the dopest shit in the entirety of Star Wars. I’d start hooting and hollering right there in the cinema. Bring it, Rian Johnson.

I had forgotten Williarob’s name. Since he joined TN1 he’s been the Platonic ideal of transparent and direct I wish the team had been prior.

So let me get this straight:

The group that has been intentionally vague, dodged basic questions and obscured their individual identities did something shady?

Like I respect and appreciate all the work TN1 has done–their Silver Screen Edition of Star Wars is my preferred version of the film–but I’ve been suspicious of these people since the original Negative1 basically said he had nothing to lose and would preserve these films by any means necessary.

I imagine there are perfectly decent, ethical people within the team as well, but since they maintain this weird, nebulous anonymity I can’t exactly mete out blame where it’s due.

Whatever. I wage $50 that Disney announces Blu Rays of the original unaltered trilogy before 2016 is over.

How is the 2.0 audio sourced? This looks fantastic by the way. The final, cleaned-up version of this will be my preferred version of Jedi.

This is adorable. One of my friends livetweeted his daughter watching Clones for the first time and I could have sworn a five-year-old expressed subtle disdain.

Harmy said:

Don’t be so sure that it’s only in the Grindhouse:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/160960/picture:0
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/160960/picture:1
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/160960/picture:2
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/160960/picture:3
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/160960/picture:4
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/160960/picture:5
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/160960/picture:6

How did you pull this off?!

Harmy said:

How about this link?
https://goo.gl/photos/xuSSHRfn9aPFduKAA
Are you guys seeing the empty album there?

If anyone wants to reupload this anywhere, please PM me first and I’ll give you fixed NFO files.
Meanwhile, I will also re-upload versions with fixed NFOs to uloz but keep these current links live for a while, so you don’t need to worry if you’re already downloading.
If you find any other problems with the NFOs, now’s the time!!!

Yeah I can see it.

joefavs said:

Fantastic, I can watch it instead of the Super Bowl.

It’s sad but this is what popped into my head as well.

I don’t hear that at all. The First Order theme, as played when Ren’s shuttle lands on Jakku, properly has that evil regime vibe.

Will some of the replaced shots be of the Falcon’s cockpit? Those used the '97SE and were the only ones that really stuck out.

Ba-dum tss.

…wow you really didn’t get the point of that movie, did you.

Oh I’ve known that for years. Doesn’t make his “courtship” any less creepy.

@Lord Haseo: maybe you’re making a–bad–joke but I don’t think you got the point of Blade Runner.

Rewrite Ham and Leia’s romantic arc in Empire. Like, not a single line of their mutual dialogue in the first half of the movie should be the same. As it currently stands, Han is a passive-aggressive creep who doesn’t hesitate to antagonize or humiliate her in front of the troops she commands. He makes lewd comments to her on the Falcon and basically corners her in the service compartment for their famous kiss. His behaviour isn’t something someone should just come around to. It’s just gross.

It’s weird but Ford played three characters like this three years in a row–coercive, aggressive Han in Empire, statutory rapist Indiana Jones in Raiders and straight-up rapist Deckard in Blade Runner. I’m not saying it’s indicative of Ford as a person, just of the writing of the time.