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strangelove

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19-Jan-2006
Last activity
7-Jan-2013
Posts
86

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Post
#264698
Topic
The Princess Bride (1987) - The Criterion Collection (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/264698/action/topic#264698
Time
Beautiful work on the Bride, bdev. Can't wait for the Baron.

A couple of nitpicks:

It may be possible to edit the sidebreaks together without overlapping the commentaries, but perhaps not with the program you were using.

On the "Fezzik, Vizzini, and Buttercup" clip, the on-set audio drops out at the end and can only be heard on Track 2 after the commentary finishes

On the last Credits page, the word "materials" is misspelled

Why reduce the size of the images in the galleries? On the LD the pics of the tapestry were full screen.

-Like I say, nitpicks. Keep it up!
Post
#261429
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/261429/action/topic#261429
Time
That being the case, would you be in favor of "saving" the Paris stuff for the "composite sequel" as you called it? I really wasn't imagining this Ultimate Superman II tying-in to a III/IV combination, but certainly assuming that it would, the Paris stuff would definitely help it out, no?


Credit where due-- a III/IV edit wasn't my idea but I'm intrigued by it.

Moving Paris ahead might not be a bad thought-- it could take the place of the subway sequence in IV, and tie into the concept of throwing nuclear weapons into space. I still think an ideal II needs a Supes-on-the-job episode at the top, as in the Lester version.

Ooh ooh. What if 'I' ends with "FREEE!" and 'II' opens on the moon? FX challenge: a cosmic zoom over audio montage of Jor-El and Lara from 'I', discussing Kal-el's chances on Earth, ending with "he will never be alone..." as we close on the lunar surface.
Post
#261389
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/261389/action/topic#261389
Time
You know I thought about that myself, but it wouldn't exactly jive with Superman Returns. Of course there some of you who could care less about tying-into SR,


Yeah, and I'm one of them. My ideas here are more oriented towards leading into a composite III/IV sequel. Not to drag this discussion off-topic yet again, but I just don't see SR sharing a proper continuity with the Reeve films. It's like insisting that Return to Oz use "Over the Rainbow" just because it adopted MGM's image of the Ruby Slippers instead of the silver ones in the books.
Post
#261358
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/261358/action/topic#261358
Time
I mentioned this before, but yeah, cutting the Paris sequence (warts and all) is a problem. If we're talking stand-alone sequel, then it's good to have some undiluted Superman action up front (it might be possible to move Niagara up, but not by much), and if we're talking combo 1&2 edit we have to figure out how it dovetails with the already problematic ending of 1.

Do we see the villains freed before Superman turns back time (if he does)? Do we pick up on the missile only after "Maybe... if he's lucky?" I kind of like the idea of 1 ending with "FREEE!" but then that means the missile took its sweet time exploding (unless we explore the 'parallel time-travelling Superman' idea) and there was no 'double jeopardy' after all.

Separate topic: Miss Tessmacher. Now that we have an alternate jailbreak sequence on the Donner disc, how about using it at the end of 2? Maybe after the credits?
Post
#261308
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/261308/action/topic#261308
Time
Some good calls there, CC.

I prefer Lois in the river to Lois out the window for a couple of reasons: It gives her character arc time to build, and she isn't publicly humiliated. Also, Clark's heroics don't take place in front of a crowd. There might be a way to keep her drawing glasses on the picture at the beginning-- let's say she keeps her hunch to herself until they're away from the Planet offices.
Post
#261136
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/261136/action/topic#261136
Time
Re: the landspeeder shadow. There's a lot more going on in that shot than just petroleum jelly (if in fact there is any. I think Lucas was talking about different, locked-off shots and possibly an abandoned technique). If you oversaturate the color you can see that the orange blur is the vehicle's real shadow, painted out frame-by-frame with an animated shadow composited below it. They positioned the animated shadow lower so that daylight would be visible under the hull, but unless the speeder is suddenly a lot higher off the ground that means that the shadow is being cast towards the camera while all the other (real) shadows in the shot recede into the background. The SE and DVD versions have the same problem.

I mean OK, two suns, but really.
Post
#260644
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/260644/action/topic#260644
Time
Originally posted by: Jobel
In the original script perhaps, but not actually shot by Donner, because we have that Donner scene after the Villians are defeated were Superman and Lois share another kiss outside the fortress which is then followed by him destroying the fortress of solitude forever.


That's why I'm curious to see the script, or at least notes on it. I guess it's kind of off-topic to discuss it here since the effect on a fan-edit of the existing footage would be minimal.
Post
#260569
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/260569/action/topic#260569
Time
Originally posted by: Commander Courage
And to answer your question, Lois was originally to have died at the end of Superman II, at the hands of the villains. This was to enrage Superman enough for him to reverse time, saving Lois and putting the villains back into the Phantom Zone. In this context everything would have fell into place quite nicely.


Aha, thank you. Though I'm not sure I prefer her being torn apart to her being smothered in her car. Can you recommend a source for info on the original script?

P.S. Scott Kurtz just got in the last word on the Amnesia Kiss. Check out his "PVP" strip for 11-29-06.
Post
#260361
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/260361/action/topic#260361
Time
Bizzle, are you serious about advising newcomers to skip Superman II in favor of Bryan Singer's ultimate fanfic? Heck, why have them watch any of the Christopher Reeve films at all? Oh, that's right-- because we want them to LIKE Superman.

Back to the topic of the original films: I've been re-watching the RIC, and I have to say I respect Lester's contributions a little more now. I prefer the Honeymoon Suite reveal to Lois-with-a-gun; and say what you will about the Amnesia Kiss, Kidder and Reeve's acting is superb there. A lot of the restored Donner footage reveals a discomfort about women (all those lines about punching Eve in the mouth!)-- not so much misogyny as gynophobia (if that's a word) that Lester's doesn't. And I agree that it just makes sense for Lara to advise Superman on matters of the heart.

What I'm coming around to is that there's probably no way to reconstruct the 'original vision' since that would be the 600-page script that was never completely shot. Scholars, weigh in here: if the time-reversal gag was the original ending, would Lois still have died at half-time? At the end? At all? It's fairly unworkable.

Sticking with II as a separate film, I say use the Lester cut as a guide because it has superior pacing and continuity, and because Ken Thorne's score actually fits the action. Cut back the comedy bits and the fake Lex, and re-introduce Donner footage where appropriate.
Post
#259821
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/259821/action/topic#259821
Time
Agree with cashiers on both counts-- the Revenge on Rocky scene has always been of questionable value but the new cut renders it nonsensical as well.

As for the FX, I would like some documentation on which shots were reconstructed from the original shoot and which were fabricated for the DVD, as was done on the supplements for Star Trek- The Motion Picture. If I'm not mistaken the Washington Monument shots are cheap CGI, and Zod's "FREE!" appears to have been modified with a digital zoom.
Post
#259544
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/259544/action/topic#259544
Time
Originally posted by: DrGonzo369

As for the fact that Supes isn't in it until Niagara Falls....Batman isn't in Batman Begins for a while too (forget the time in the movie, but it's pretty long into it).


Well, yeah, but BB is an origin story. While we're at it, Superman: The Movie takes even longer to unveil our hero. The great thing about sequels is you have the opportunity to hit the ground running with established characters. And if you check out Donner and Mankewicz' commentary on the new disc, that's what they think they're doing with the Lois-out-the-window sequence. I like the scene, but it comes too early in the film to do Lois' character arc any good. I'd keep the bit where she doodles glasses on the picture, but cut the jump and wait to use the now-deleted Niagara swim instead.
Post
#259253
Topic
Info: Superman II Donner, and III & IV extended edits
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/259253/action/topic#259253
Time
The problem (and you'll understand once you've seen the "Donner Cut") is that Superman reverses time after destroying the Fortress, which means it's back together when he's done. The 'rewind' gimmick bugs me even more here than it did at the end of I. I mean, basically, he could have reversed time at any point in the film-- why wait til the end?

What makes the time-travel bit just bearable in I is that it works emotionally, if not logically. Lois is DEAD, and an enraged, grieving Superman draws on some primal reservoir of superpower we're not sure he knew he had. There's no such motivation in the "Donner Cut", which I'm continuing to state in quotation marks because it's really the Michael Thau Cut.

On top of all this, we're lacking an explanation of how I should end in order to lead into the new edit-- does Superman just turn back time after every adventure? I guess the true solution would be to somehow cut I and II together into a single film (as originally originally intended), drawing from both Donner and Lester footage.
Post
#210384
Topic
Info: The Criterion Laserdisc Preservation Thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/210384/action/topic#210384
Time
Originally posted by: digitalfreaknyc
The new version is totally different. I'd be interested in archiving this.


I've got the set. I'm in Berkeley, though, and I take it from your tag that you're on the other side of the States.

Another Criterion that might be worth some work is Tootsie. There's a great commentary track from Sydney Pollack, plus a detailed documentary, a rather glitchy photo gallery, and a great outtake of "Dorothy" being interviewed by Gene Shalit. One could also consider incorporating the EPK material from the Columbia/TriStar SE disc set-- none of this stuff made it to the DVD.