Hey, all; was recently on Cracked.com, and saw they had a Star Wars-related article -- you might want to read it: http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-star-wars-fans-need-to-accept-about-george-lucas/
Frankly, I'm pissed off; the writer completely does not get it. I'd like to hear your reactions.
Cracked exists to get people pissed off. I thought it was an average article.
Star Wars Revisited Wordpress
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They're usually better than that, though... :-/
Wow. I took the time to write out a decent length reply to the article and it looks like they've deleted it. =(
Tobar said:
Wow. I took the time to write out a decent length reply to the article and it looks like they've deleted it. =(
Repost it here if you can.
Eh, it's pretty much just a rambling defense of the SE and prequels. Cracked has had enough anti-Jar-Jar anti-SE stuff that this really shouldn't be a big deal. I think it's grating because it's less tongue-in-cheek and more defensive than you would normally expect from them. Anyone with a brain will see through the many holes in the guys argument.
Wow, I find a lot of Cracked articles oddly illuminating and funny. This is just a sad apologist trotting out the same tired arguments, and it's not even funny.
Yep, this is just the equivalent of a drunk guy at a party trying to make the Star Wars fan mad because it's fun. The arguments are neither cogent nor consistent. That is not the point.
I miss the real Cracked I grew up with...
Where were you in '77?
Mr. Bungle said:
Tobar said:
Wow. I took the time to write out a decent length reply to the article and it looks like they've deleted it. =(
Repost it here if you can.
I actually lost it when they did that. I think they deleted it because I linked to savestarwars.com. So I went ahead and rewrote it leaving that out. I think I did a better job the first time but this is pretty much it:
This article COMPLETELY misses the point. The issue isn't whether Lucas has the right to changes his films. It's about the preservation of them in their original form.
First off let me state that I am in no way a Lucas basher. I appreciate what he's done for the industry and the fact that he gave us the original trilogy in the first place. What I and others like me take issue with is the fact that this man who claims to champion the cause of film preservation neglects to do the same for his own films.
The boycott of the blu-rays and (though there really weren't any for) the 3D release of TPM were done in the hopes that if they flopped Lucas would finally feel the need to preserve and release the original theatrical versions.
What's that you say? They released the theatrical versions on DVD in 2006? Why yes they did but that release was terrible. They were included as bonus discs tacked on to the previously released 2004 SE set. That would have been fine if they had been properly restored and presented but instead of that they literally just slapped laserdisc masters from 1993 on the discs and called it a day. Those transfers of the films are TERRIBLE. They're riddled with artifacting, aliasing and they didn't even bother to make them anamorphic.
George and some fans still don't seem to get it. All this controversy would end if they just released the original theatrical versions in comparable quality to the latest SE release. All we want is a release of the films that are up to today's home video standards. That's all.
80% of the "humor" ariticles on that site come off like your big brother back from his first semester at college.
Writer knows a bit about a topic. Make a top 10 list about how other people are dumber than him. Add a couple dick jokes. TaDa! Cracked article.
Jeez, I regularly read cracked. Thanks for making me feel stupid guys :/.
Anyway, I thought he got it pretty much right. Did anyone actually finish the article? Look at point #1. And in any case it's a humor website.
A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em
bkev said:
And in any case it's a humor website.
Then why isn't it funny?
Tobar said:
Mr. Bungle said:
Tobar said:
Wow. I took the time to write out a decent length reply to the article and it looks like they've deleted it. =(
Repost it here if you can.
I actually lost it when they did that. I think they deleted it because I linked to savestarwars.com. So I went ahead and rewrote it leaving that out. I think I did a better job the first time but this is pretty much it:
This article COMPLETELY misses the point. The issue isn't whether Lucas has the right to changes his films. It's about the preservation of them in their original form.
First off let me state that I am in no way a Lucas basher. I appreciate what he's done for the industry and the fact that he gave us the original trilogy in the first place. What I and others like me take issue with is the fact that this man who claims to champion the cause of film preservation neglects to do the same for his own films.
The boycott of the blu-rays and (though there really weren't any for) the 3D release of TPM were done in the hopes that if they flopped Lucas would finally feel the need to preserve and release the original theatrical versions.
What's that you say? They released the theatrical versions on DVD in 2006? Why yes they did but that release was terrible. They were included as bonus discs tacked on to the previously released 2004 SE set. That would have been fine if they had been properly restored and presented but instead of that they literally just slapped laserdisc masters from 1993 on the discs and called it a day. Those transfers of the films are TERRIBLE. They're riddled with artifacting, aliasing and they didn't even bother to make them anamorphic.
George and some fans still don't seem to get it. All this controversy would end if they just released the original theatrical versions in comparable quality to the latest SE release. All we want is a release of the films that are up to today's home video standards. That's all.
Well stated. And when you break it down to that very simple point (and when you highlight film preservation), Lucas ends up looking like the childish one, not the "obsessive fans".
The GOUT release definitely succeed for GL in that it did exactly what he hoped it would do: displease the people who wanted the OUT, and misinform everyone else. I cannot tell you how many comments and articles I've read online that state "Lucas released them on DVD and still that was not enough for you losers. You just need something to complain about." Infuriating.
Honestly, I don't give a crap about the prequels (I don't think TPM is as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and I actually thought ROTS was, for the most part, very satisfying). Unfortunately, people's disdain for them gets lumped in with the goals of savestarwars.com, and it really hurts the cause.
I actually reposted it. So far it's still up there. They ended up deleting two of my comments and both had the url for the savestarwars.com article on the GOUT.
Mr. Bungle said:
Well stated. And when you break it down to that very simple point (and when you highlight film preservation), Lucas ends up looking like the childish one, not the "obsessive fans".
The GOUT release definitely succeed for GL in that it did exactly what he hoped it would do: displease the people who wanted the OUT, and misinform everyone else. I cannot tell you how many comments and articles I've read online that state "Lucas released them on DVD and still that was not enough for you losers. You just need something to complain about." Infuriating.
Thanks! =) Yeah I see a lot of that going on too. It always bugs me.
Point #4 alone proves he doesn't get it. For being an article on allegedly humorous website, apart from a few minor zingers, the thing comes off as a serious defense of Lucas's policies over the years using a bunch of crap strawman arguments and a continuation of this disturbing "geek self-loathing" that things like that jackoff Big Bang Theory show helped popularize.
All I really want is each film as it was originally seen and heard in theaters; no fixes, corrections, "improvements" or modifications necessary.
I stopped reading that site when that idiot wrote that piece attacking the Occupy movement and placing blame on its existence on Generation X.
They must have ran out of legitimately funny things to write about and are now just flat-out soapboxing without any humor.
It cracks me.
Yeah, that's pretty true. I see cracked less a a humor site and more of an public consensus site. I remember a recent article about star trek vs star wars, and the star wars part included a response to the special editions: "at least we can kill ourselves"
The public is pretty much turning against SW now, and fewer care that the OOT is being lost. Sorry guys, the people on this website (and maybe some film director's comments) are the only ones who care about the OOT anymore. Its status as a lost film is becoming more and more inevitable every day.
And don't say someone will find film elements for the OOT. They don't exist, even if you think they do.
Thought you guys might want to read this article as well. Granted, you might think he belongs higher on the list, but for George to be on this list at all is pretty noteworthy.
I wish they'd given Marcia Lucas some credit for the fantastic editing of Star Wars, but hey - Kurtz and Kasdan getting the credit for why we love these movies is already a step up.
A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em
Once again, Cracked sums up things most people in their respective fandoms have known for years already. ;)
Where were you in '77?
Yeah, I usually like reading the articles for their wit. But I also find Cracked.com's research spotty at times.
"There's no cluster of midiclorians that controls my destiny!" -Han Solo, from a future revision of ANH
I talk to people who bash me for preferring the OOT and ignoring the Prequels and CGI Clone Wars show from my personal sense of continuity. Yeah, it's nothing new. To think that guy actually thinks "Episode IV: A New Hope" added to the crawl helps the movie (when it, in actuality, turns the film from being duly recognized as the original and eponymous film/installment of a huge series it later spawned, for better or for worse, to just the "fourth" one in a film series which only includes one other masterpiece, one very good film, and three pieces of shlock). The Praxis effect is obnoxious and doesn't fit in with the visuals of the film in the least, and further tinkering with the other films hasn't helped either (which had great brief performances by great actors replaced in cases). Cracked usually has some interesting pop-science/culture. etc humor, and it can lead you to look up stuff and laugh every now and again, but a lot of the time, the writers are barely that well versed in what they're writing and don't dig deep enough. I wish I could have read the original Cracked Magazine, the supposedly spectacular evil, darker twin of Mad, because I have a feeling the Cracked franchise has degenerated in much the same way as Star Wars has in the past decades...
-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars. Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me?
-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.
-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten!
Star Wars Purist said:
I talk to people who bash me for preferring the OOT and ignoring the Prequels and CGI Clone Wars show from my personal sense of continuity. Yeah, it's nothing new. To think that guy actually thinks "Episode IV: A New Hope" added to the crawl helps the movie (when it, in actuality, turns the film from being duly recognized as the original and eponymous film/installment of a huge series it later spawned, for better or for worse, to just the "fourth" one in a film series which only includes one other masterpiece, one very good film, and three pieces of shlock). The Praxis effect is obnoxious and doesn't fit in with the visuals of the film in the least, and further tinkering with the other films hasn't helped either (which had great brief performances by great actors replaced in cases). Cracked usually has some interesting pop-science/culture. etc humor, and it can lead you to look up stuff and laugh every now and again, but a lot of the time, the writers are barely that well versed in what they're writing and don't dig deep enough. I wish I could have read the original Cracked Magazine, the supposedly spectacular evil, darker twin of Mad, because I have a feeling the Cracked franchise has degenerated in much the same way as Star Wars has in the past decades...
Seriously. You get bashed for only liking the original trilogy. Last I checked it mostly seems like it's the other way around with the people who only like the original trilogy bashing people who like the rest. I've heard accusations like these new fans are ruining Star Wars by encouraging Lucas to continue to fuck up and these fans are stupid for liking sub-par movies.
If you ask me, I think we have every right to think George Lucas is being an ass for withholding the original trilogy, but beyond that it's all subjective and every one has the right to like what they want without decent from others.
"George, we hate you for making more Star Wars movies. Please make more Star Wars movies."
-The Internet