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Ben Burtt's "Special Effects: Anything Can Happen"

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Special Effects: Anything Can Happen

Has this IMAX classic ever been out on video as a bootleg or anything like that?

I saw this one on Omnimax (similar to IMAX in size, but more of a dome in shape) at the Ontario Science Center. Though I can't remember too many specifics from it now, I do remember the revamped opening scene from Star Wars (had to look straight up to see the ships come in! ), stuff from Kazaam (uh...) and a newly created version of King Kong's fight and fall from the Empire State building.

Kind of a shame that our only memories of it are 10 years old now and we may never see it again. Of course, I'm hoping someone will prove me wrong in this regard!

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The only thing I've ever run across is a very short clip out on the web in RealPlayer format. It does show the entire recreated opening scene from Star Wars, which made me happy to see it again. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the link now.

Sad that so many IMAX films have been released to DVD, yet this one has just disappeared. It would be a big seller if they would only put it out. I'd even go see it at the IMAX theater again if they showed it.

I recall it also had desert scenes shot from a bouncing dune buggy as they were going out to film the new shots for the Star Wars Special Edition featuring the stormtrooper patrol.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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I saw this film when I flew out to DC to see the Magic of Myth in the Smithsonian many years ago. I believe they re-created a shot of the Falcon blasting into hyperspace. That was great to see on the IMAX.
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Originally posted by: Ripplinstuff from Kazaam (uh...)


<sarcasm>Kazaam was an awesome movie that was worth all of the many hours dedicated towards perfecting its extra-special effects.</sarcasm>

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1113/userbar381851ln2.gif
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8653/userbar381853dp6.gif
Super Mario Bros. - The Wicked Star Story
"Ah, the proverbial sad sack with a wasted wish."
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Saw this in OmniMax too. Mostly Lucas-lovin' drivel, but ILM did do a spectacular recreation of the opening shot of ANH, only using the 8 foot Avenger model. Gorgeous, and absolutely mind-blowing in OmniMax. Come to think of it, that would have been an interesting chunk of film to have used in the SE version of the film.
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Originally posted by: Z6PO
You can see short clips of this film on this page.
*That's* the one I was thinking of. Thanks for finding it again.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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This is an aside but I saw Jurassic Park at the Ontario Science Centre in 1993, which was amazing. Wish I could have seen Star Wars footage on that.

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Wait, my bad it was at the Cinesphere at Ontario Place. Still cool though!

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To be perfectly honest, as cool as Special Effects was, I was kinda more impressed with the trailer for a nature documentary before it! Maybe it's just because of the initial 'wow' factor, and then I was sort of used to seeing stuff that humongous afterwords. :p

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none said:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/specialfx/effects/producer.html

NOVA ran a modified version of the doc.  The above link is an interview with the producer.  The official PBS store used to sell copies.

So NOVA ran this on TV?  And there were copies available for sale?  What format - VHS, DVD?  And did anyone buy a copy?

If such a copy was available, this screams preservation, folks.

About a third (most of the Star Wars related material) was previewed at a convention back in 96..  A preservation of that is available on TWC301:

Very nice...at least we can now review what was in the film!

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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Nice find!

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

END OF LINE

(It hasn’t happened yet)

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With that run of 70mm IMAX TFA prints made last year, it’s too bad they didn’t revive this as a tie in. That theater in San Jose I saw TFA at was showing unrelated docs in the mornings.

Where were you in '77?

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That’s awesome! It’s too bad there’s no proper copy of the documentary out there.

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Cobbled together mostly two different sources with a third because for a brief moment it is the best footage available, I bring you the most complete version of the IMAX Star Wars opening. Yeah, it’s not great, but it’s the best I could do, especially considering the first source. No audio changes were made, so the different versions have their own narration and even different music. It’s purely for the visual.

https://vimeo.com/185609900

Password: IMAX

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A bit of a bump, yet I think a welcome one, to be sure…
 

‘Star Wars: Episode IV sound design explained by Ben Burtt’:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So0nmciiFJg - from the ‘Indepth Sound Design’ youtube channel
 

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

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‘How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com - includes info on how to ask for a fan project and how to search for projects and threads on OT•com.

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Hey Guys I was researching this movie and while I was gathering information I saw the poster for this film on google images and couldn’t help but feel that it looked familiar and so I retraced my steps to a video on youtube. This video from March of 2019 shows that at The Maritime Aquarium in the Projectionist’s office they have the original poster hanging on the wall at 8 seconds in and at 20 seconds you can see a case with the words “GIANT SCREEN FILMS” (the production company) in the corner. I believe this case contains the famous film Special Effects: Anything Can Happen. The Maritime Aquarium is still open but the IMAX exhibit is set to be demolished on January 18th 2021 I’ve made contact with the projectionist and left him a message. Video: https://youtu.be/_uFyp1WS1Fw

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