chyron8472 said:
Okay then. On-topic it is.
So long as I don't get yelled at by Harmy again. That's no fun.
Certainly agree on this point, Harmy is basically one of my new idols and any time I say something that he takes badly, I feel really terrible about it.
But charging through with off-topic for a second anyway, valinkrai is certainly a bit deluded in his thinking, but that is not a slam on him personally, instead it is a long-held fear coming true. Ever since the second VHS release of the SE came out (that being the first time the SE trilogy dropped the SE and was billed as THE Trilogy) and then those lovely prequels started debuting, the likelihood of the Star Wars we knew and loved being passed on and instilling the same values and nostalgia it did for the generations up until that point, seemed tangibly bleak. With the original versions being officially written off and only their replacements readily available for new generations to experience, the importance and significance of the original accomplishments would diminish, new "fans" would crop up that don't value the integrity of the films, since they're used to them changing regularly and containing silly scenes that undermine the seriousness and charm that frustrated purists were won over by so long ago. I can only imagine, but someone growing up with the SE I believe might not have the same kind of love and devotion to the series, that when they grow up they'd have an easy time making a clear division that Star Wars was something they only liked as a child (what with the added silly scenes, unneeded tweaks, dated non-groundbreaking effects [CGI], messed up pacing, etc.), not something that affects them beyond that (okay, some people who live perpetually in their parents' basement might have benefited from this, but still) since many of the layers that I've appreciated when watching it at different points in my life have largely been stripped away with all the SE retooling. It has been cheapened, and that was bound to have deep effects on the future of Star Wars fandom.
Efforts like those of Harmy are our greatest hope now, with theatrical cuts becoming available at quality acceptable to the increasingly discerning tastes of children that are bombarded with high definition everything, we can try to undo some of the damage and certainly introduce our offspring to the saga the way we feel it should be seen and appreciated.
I will say that to be doing a presentation on ILM and not considering that ALL special effects changes (saying nothing of the other SE alterations) distorts the effort that went into the original, ground-breaking, award-winning effects doesn't speak well to his qualification on this topic. For better looking for worse, the historical significance of these films is not to be understated, and should be the foremost basis of any comparison. Rather than (just guessing at one way you may be doing it) having a presentation starting with how great ILM is now and peppering in how they started, it should be approached from all the hurdles they overcame in the beginning and how they evolved (and evolved with) the film industry.
